Super Something
by TurtleStripes
Summary: Absurdly AU. Arizona may have not wanted a kid, but what happens when her and Teddy get left with someone else's little boy? Mainly Arizona, Teddy and Callie, but has Erica, Addison, Lexie and Mark too! (Summary sucks.)
1. Dry Cereal

AN: Let's see if this is worth a go. The idea just won't leave me. The rating will most likely go up with time.

* * *

It was a quiet, peaceful afternoon downtown; the sun was shining, people were out enjoying the nice weather…it was just one of those days where it feels like happiness is literally in the air, when you can feel the warmth and glow of the sun spread through your body.

Or something like that. It was probably like that for a lot of people, probably even Arizona as well, but she wasn't quite willing to accept those kind of feelings today.

x-x

The blonde stirred as the sun shone through the windows in her bedroom. She slowly stretched and opened her eyes, blinking a few times and gazing up towards the ceiling. What was there to look forward to today? She hadn't really accomplished much work in the past few months, her girlfriend was gone after years of criticising her every movement, and to top it all off: she clearly must have suffered some sort of mental break and bought a total fixer upper of a house; there wasn't much of this house she didn't have to change. But she was stubborn and determined, so she rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

x-x

Teddy jogged in through the front door with a box of donuts and pulled her earbuds out as Arizona was on her second coffee with a spoonful of dry cereal halfway to her mouth.

"You've always had a special way of entering a room, Teds." Came after milliseconds of being somewhat startled at the intrusion

Teddy shrugged and tossed the box of donuts on the counter "You've always been a weirdo and have your cereal without milk. Guess we're both special."

"I brought you donuts, by the way, you're welcome." The taller blonde said as she hopped up on a stool next to Arizona and stole a few sips of her coffee "So what's the plan for today?"

"Meh." She shrugged as her forehead wrinkled in thought, her eyes creasing a little as she turned to Teddy "I've gotten most of the drywall up, but we should probably give them a final check before going to pick up the paint…oh, and the flooring should be getting delivered sometime tomorrow…so whatever, I don't really have big plans for the day"

Teddy tried not to cringe thinking of all the back pain that would come with painting and laying the flooring…and that was really just the tip of the iceberg "Tell me again why you have all this space for just you? And why you're so set on turning it into a loonie bin? I mean, you're _actually _planning on little hidden spaces and your weird little lofty spots, really?"

Arizona simply scoffed and dropped her spoon down into the bowl and hopped off the stool to take her dishes to the sink "Because, A) It'll be awesome B) You never know when you could use more space C) I just want to, it'll be awesome. Just trust me. Remember our treehouse in high school? You didn't think that was an awesome idea at the start either."

"Okay, I'll give you that one. How about: we check the walls, go grab some paint samples and have lunch at Jim's while we make decisions about your little Neverland Ranch thing you have going on here"

Arizona didn't even bother responding to the Neverland comment, it would only encourage her best friend further "Sounds good…wait, Jim's?"

"Yeh, you know, daytime version of Joe's? The quiet little place on the corner downtown, with the awesome fries?"

"Oh, riiiight. Okay, go shower first. You stink. I'll go around and check the drywall and make sure we don't need to pick anything else up while we're out."

* * *

'cuz dry cereal, am I right?

Next chapter has more...everything?


	2. Super Somebodies

As Arizona scribbled some things they'd need to buy onto a scrap piece of paper she took stock of herself in the rusty old mirror on the wall and realized that she'd have to change now that they were going out instead of staying in and working on the house. As she was rummaging through her things she heard Teddy finishing up in the bathroom she quickly decided to through on a pair of skinny jeans and her brother's old Batman shirt.

"Wow, 'Zona, don't look now but I think you've been replaced by a teenager" the taller blonde said from the doorway of the bathroom

"Oh shut up, it's not like I ever really dress that different…and you're in my room, so be nice" she finished with a pout

"Well it's the only bathroom you've finished…AWESOME shower, by the way. _Awesome whole bathroom, really._" she tossed her towel on the hamper and headed out of the room

Arizona grinned when she heard Teddy saying 'awesome' and followed her out. "The rest of the house might not turn out so bad then, eh?"

x-x

The trip to the hardware store wasn't overly exciting; they both pretty much knew the store back to front after all the trips they'd made recently. The largest chunk of their time was consumed picking out paint samples, Arizona going for the bright, exciting and 'Disney' colours, Teddy insisting that there should be some 'grown up colours' or at least some sort of overall colour scheme, knowing that her best friend probably already had some strange plan in her weird mind.

x-x

Before they knew it they were sliding into the booth at Jim's. Dropping their paint samples and the few magazines Teddy had picked up onto the table, the two blonde haired heads turned to look at the waitress in such a syncretic motion that the waitress was a little taken back. 'Whoa, that was weird…like that really old couple that always comes in…they've been married forever though…' She softly shook her head to break out of her digressing thoughts and focused her attention back on her customers "So what can I get you ladies this afternoon? You are an absolutely adorable couple!" She wore a big smile that came naturally after years of experience and got ready to take their order.

The girls shared a look and laughed while the waitress's face started turning a little pink realizing what she said and that she must have made a mistake. "Thank you, but we're best friends, that's all" They grinned, knowing it was a mistake that happened more often than not. "Oh, I am so sorry! I think I've seen you in here a few times before and you always seem so happy, and I don't know…_together…_that I just assumed, I'm sorry"

Teddy looked across to her friend, knowing she was having a bit of an _off _day, and who was also looking like she might try to make this poor woman's day a little more difficult and, by consequence, Teddy's as well, she decided to step in just as Arizona opened her mouth "That's okay, really, it happens a lot, we've been friends for pretty much forever" Arizona just smirked in response and waited patiently to order.

Half way through their meal and each on their second coke, they had a rough floor plan scribbled onto a piece of paper with the paint chips taped in place over their appropriate rooms, in addition to several other papers littered over the table where Arizona had tried to show Teddy what she wanted to do with various rooms. While Arizona was going through the paint chips again Teddy was tilting her head and grumbling, still trying to make sense of it all "While I understand that you do your whole 'arty' thing for kids' books as your job, and that you enjoy it, I don't understand why you want to introduce Narnia and Neverland and the 100 Acre Woods in to, what could be, a _very nice, very mature, adult's house._"

Arizona just looked at her incredulously "Seriously? That's still what you're on about, I mean-"

"No no no, someone without kids doesn't need a room with a loft bed and hammock in it, not to mention-"

"WHOA, first of all-" Arizona stopped and blinked, looking down to where a small hand had tugged at the bottom of her shirt "Do you know Batman?" said the tiny voice. Arizona's brows furrowed as she looked down into bright blue eyes, not too different from her own 'What a weird-oh' She realized she was wearing Tim's Batman shirt and gave the little boy a big dimpled smile "I do happen him." She grinned, narrowed her eyes and looked around as if she was going to tell him a big secret and leaned down to the kid "He just happens to be my little brother"

The boy's eyes brightened and his smile became increasingly big, before Arizona could blink the little boy was climbing up on her lap. Her eyes widened and she shot her best friend a look to try to get some help. Teddy just grinned and leaned back her arms folded across her chest as the little boy made himself busy looking through all the drawings "You sure you don't have any munchkins running around, Robbins? If not, at the very least I think you just made a new little best friend" All she received was a panicked look which was quickly changed when Teddy's words registered with her "I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I pushed-"

The littlest blonde cut her off, looking up with eyes brimming with curiousity "You're Robin? I finked he was a boy" he tilted his head as he continued to think and the girls couldn't help but smile, he was definitely adorable. As soon as it looked like Teddy was about to say something that would no doubt put Arizona's awesomeness into question, she looked back down to give the boy a big smile "Nope, _Robbins _is just my last name. Sneaky, huh? I'm actually a super special, secret superhero"

"REALLY" he spun around with about as much grace as could be expected of a little boy sitting on the lap of someone sitting in a restaurant booth "WHO ARE YOU, DID YOU TEACH BATMAN, WHAT DO YOU DO"

Arizona grinned as she saw a chance to further impress the cute little kid _and _bug her best friend, she put her arms out to try to keep him from falling and hushed her voice "I'm Roller Girl, and that" she nodded towards her best friend "is Teddy Bear" Her dimples popped as Teddy shot her a dirty look and tried to kick her under the table as the little boy launched into a thousand questions.

"That's so cool! And I know the secret! Cool!" He continued to ramble about Batman and Roller Girl and Teddy Bear while snuggling back into Arizona's lap, clearly quite comfortable "I wished on the falling Twinkle that I could be like Batman. Me not 'pecial" He wore a little frown and the friends' brows furrowed wondering if that was normal for a mood change like that, they also shared a look reading eachother's minds and wondering if this little boy should be so comfortable with strangers, especially with how at home he seemed to be with Arizona

Sharing another look they internally sighed and Teddy addressed the boy "I wouldn't be so sure about that little man, _Roller Girl _and I happen to be good at discovering special and hidden powers, buuuut we need to know your name first"

He became noticeably happier and beamed at the possibility of having hidden powers and looked back and forth between his new super friends "Ben" He turned back around to face Arizona with his bright smile still in place "I 'pecial?"

There was something about the way he said it, like it was supposed to be something simple but had more meaning behind it than the small boy and his new friends were aware of. Arizona's heart melted and could swear Teddy's eyes were tearing up "Very special, ." She smiled as he tilted his head once again.

"You know my name is Benjamin?" Of course he didn't realize that everyone assumes Ben is short for Benjamin

"Yepp," she grinned "Told ya, super powers!"

His small face contorted as he tried to study the older blonde "I don't like it."

"Benjamin? Your name?" Brows furrowed slightly as she thought of what he meant

He shrugged "S'ok when you say it"

Once again the older blondes shared a look and shrugged, lots of kids go through phases of not liking their names. The three just seemed to sit in silence, the older two almost lost in thought about this strange little kid that wandered into their afternoon. Of course, it eventually crossed their minds that they had been sitting and talking to a kid that they didn't even know and apparently he was quite a little escape artist as no one has come to get him.

Arizona finally broke free and ruffled the boy's hair a little "Well Sunshine, you're awesome and Teds and I loved hanging out with you, but don't you think we should find your par-"

"Ben?! Ben! Oh, thank God!" A beautiful Latina came around the corner with cell phone in hand, frantically texting while Teddy and Arizona looked on trying to keep their jaws off the floor.


	3. A Benjamin Torres Original

Fair warning: 'tis a long one!

* * *

They watched as the woman made her way to the table and bent down to Ben's level carrying out some sort of visual inspection of the boy, seemingly oblivious that he was sitting with two strangers.

Teddy regained her composure first, with a barely noticeable shake of her head she held out her hand "Hi. Teddy Altman, and that's Arizona, nice to meet you. This charming little munchkin must be yours" The woman shook her hand and Arizona practically had her eyes trained on the beautiful brunette as she watched the woman's shoulders visually sag in relief, then as her eyes widened in realization of the 'situation' and she started pacing in tiny circles at the table side and muttering 'shit' repeatedly and what sounded like Spanish? rambling. She definitely had the girls' attention.

"I'm so sorry – my sister is going to be so pissed – shit." She closed her eyes as if trying to pull herself together and lifted her gaze to meet Arizona's "He normally doesn't even talk to strangers…or anyone really – he's still shy around me for God's sakes – _'but he'll grow out of it, they say'-_" Just as the expected the foreign language to start again the woman's ringtone jumped in, although it might not really be considered a 'save' as they listened to the lyrics – "-just your typical, hardcore, casual sex, we're wild under the covers, crazy for each other. We don't have to go on dates-"

The three women internally cringed realizing that Ben was sitting right there, the mysterious brunette at least looking slightly sheepish "Hey you-…Really?...Okay!...Wait-I kinda…have a thing-" Teddy and Arizona studied the woman a little harder as they started getting the impression the woman was a bit…'flakey'. After what seemed like a prolonged silence of the woman intently listening to the person on the other end of the conversation she broke out in a somewhat evil grin as her gaze shifted between the two blondes "Actually, you know what, I got it covered baby, I just happened to meet two lovely women who would love to take care of Benny" and with that she hung up and slid the phone back in her pocket.

"It's no big deal, guys, promise. He's super quiet and just does his own thing. You won't even know he's there. Thanks so much!"

Their eyes widened and Teddy appeared to be working on her best fish impression and Arizona didn't even know what to think or if this was actually even happening "Whoa. Wait. You're just going to leave your kid with people you don't even know? We don't even know your name! …this is at least your kid, right?"

"But I know you A'Zona!" Ben decided to enter into the conversation, not entirely liking the shift from when he had all of his new friends' attention

"See! Perfect! You're all chummy – may I?" she gestured to the phone on the table top and scooped it up before waiting for a response and proceeded to add herself as a contact and send a text to herself "Arizona and Teddy, yeh?" seeing a brief nod, she handed the phone back and spun on her heels to head out

"Thanks again! You're the best! Text me your address, see ya later!"

"What just happened?" They both asked at the same time. Arizona picked up her phone to see if the woman actually put any relevant information in there "Well, I guess that's a start - her name is Aria Torres…all the text says is 'Arizona and Teddy have Benny'" Arizona's faced scrunched up in confusion and Teddy decided to speak up "Why do I feel like that was more for her benefit than ours?" she sighed and lowered her gaze to Ben "Well little man, how do feel about home renovations and a little interior design?"

She was a little bewildered seeing the two blondes look at her from across the table, thinking they could definitely be mistaken for mother and son "What?" she asked "ren'bations and signs?" Ben asked looking at Teddy for more of an explanation. Arizona just rolled her eyes and gave him a little squeeze "What Teddy meant was how do you feel about being our own little Ben the Builder and painting?"

"REALLY?" Arizona just smirked and turned to Teddy "Look, Teds, that's how excited YOU should be."

Ben was bouncing with excitement now that his outlook for the day had dramatically improved. Arizona and Teddy decided they should probably get going and texted Aria with Arizona's address, asking what time she would be picking up Ben and stating that they should talk – neither of the women feeling entirely comfortable with the situation; Ben was a great kid, but mothers shouldn't just be leaving their kid with anyone, and both ladies agreed they'd probably have to do something if this was a regular occurrence.

They walked back to Arizona's Volkswagen and made their way back to the house, Ben chatting to them from the backseat, both women vaguely wondering if he should be in some form of car seat, neither one of them having an exorbitant amount of experience in childcare that extended beyond short visits where the parents were around to keep things under control.

"You know…one would expect that, given that you write and illustrate children's books for a living, that you would be more knowledgeable in this subject area…shouldn't you know what we should do?"

Arizona scoffed, this particular discussion seemed to be a favourite of Teddy's "No, I share awesome stories with the tiny humans. I draw them pictures. I hang out with them at Library and bookstore events…give them candy when their parents aren't looking…have fun, not _take care of them_"

"Alright, alright" Teddy held her hands up in surrender as they pulled into the driveway

"WHOA! Ar'zona! You live here?!" they swivelled their heads to look at the boy who looked like they just arrived at Disney World rather than Arizona's 'crack shack'. The shorter blonde just grinned, happy someone else appreciated its awesomeness, while Teddy was beginning to wonder once again what she had gotten herself into.

Ben ran around the house as Arizona and Teddy showed him around and tried to explain what each room would look like when they were all finished. They expected he might be a little overwhelmed with two floors and a basement's worth of mostly unfinished rooms and Arizona's tendency to ramble on about her 'awesome ideas' but he kept up, quite impressively, with Arizona's pace and even made some 'awesome suggestions' of his own, all of which Arizona was more than willing to encourage.

Teddy just hung back watching them, thinking Arizona was a bit of a natural and that she'd be a great mom one day. She never particularly was informed as to why her best friend didn't want kids, but she never really pushed the issue either as she wasn't really jumping into motherhood either.

They finally arrived back at the kitchen after the grande tour and little Ben let out a yawn. Arizona tickled him and scooped him up "Hey , what about a nap while Teddy and I work a little?"

"Do I has to?" he tried to give his best puppy dog face, the one that always got him what he wanted from his Mama

"Yepp, _but _by the time you wake up we'll be ready to do some painting!" that seemed to make the idea of a nap okay as he just smiled and sunk into Arizona and rested his head on her shoulder

They soon remembered that the only bed currently in the house was Arizona's, they shared a look and shrugged. There wasn't much they could do about it right now, the couch was covered with a drop cloth and a tonne of boxes and they couldn't exactly let him sleep in a bean bag chair. So they put him in the centre of the king sized bed and built up walls around the sides with pillows and blankets just in case he got too close to the edge.

While the littlest blonde was peacefully sleeping, the two older blondes managed to put drop cloths down where necessary, get the painter's tape up as well as prime the walls they needed to and generally tidy up a bit so that it would be slightly more child friendly.

They decided to stop and take a little break, Teddy went online to check her emails and the news, Arizona checked her phone – still no messages from Aria. Teddy pulled up the pizza shop's site and got ready to order, almost as soon as they started discussing toppings they heard little feet running down the hallway upstairs and then thumping down the stairs.

They shared an amused smile as the he ran into the room "Hey Rocket Man, were your pizza senses tingling?" He grinned and tried to climb up on the bar stool in between his new best friends "I hungry" Arizona helped him onto the stool and kept an arm behind him to keep him from falling while Teddy turned her attention back to the order form and slide the laptop towards the other two blondes "Well, little pizza monster, how do you feel about anchovies? And spinach? Maybe some olives? Oooo and some mushrooms?" Teddy tried to hide her smile, looking forward to the little boy's reaction, although she changed her mind a bit when it looked like he might have turned a shade paler "Mama said 'chovies are little fish…" he made a face and turned to Arizona to silently plead for help. He didn't want to be rude, he knew better, but he didn't want to eat the little fishies either.

Arizona smiled and leaned over to whisper in his ear. His face lit up and he did his best to sit up straight and looked to Teddy "Peese T'dora may we have pep-roni and cheesey goodness?" Teddy's eyes narrowed in Arizona's direction at 'T'dora' and further narrowed when she heard 'cheesey goodness' but couldn't stop her heart from turning to mush at how cute he was being. She tried to keep a straight face to make it seem like she had to think about it "Well, I guess that would be okay, but only because you asked so nicely" she gently bopped his nose before turning to her best friend who didn't look the slightest bit guilty "You, on the other hand…"

x-x

As the day went on they ate their pizza while talking about what they could work on that Ben could help with. They still hadn't heard from Aria, Arizona decided to try calling before they cracked open the paints but no one picked up, so she just left a message asking her to call or text back.

Ben was getting pretty excited at the idea of painting and was trying to hurry the older blondes out of the kitchen "What are we painting first?"

"Well," the two blondes had spent some time while he had been sleeping thinking of what would be the best way to let the little guy help "we have a super special project for you to help with," the trio made their way to what would eventually become Arizona's art/study room where Arizona had set up a large canvas against the wall. They led him over to the small pile of paints and brushes "_you _get an entire canvas to work on, and I get the very first _Benjamin Torres_ _Original _and we'll hang it wherever you want!"

Benjamin broke out into a megawatt smile and bounced on the heels of his feet "The whole thing all to myself?" he gestured towards the canvas that currently stood taller than him

"Yepp! The whole thing!" They smiled and helped him crack open all the paint and went to work with their rollers to paint the walls around him as he worked on his masterpiece. He was quite focused on his task and Teddy was a little surprised that Arizona had actually agreed to not only hang it but put it wherever the kid wanted – oh well, she thought, throughout the afternoon she had found herself forgetting that the little boy wasn't a regular fixture in their life. _'I guess she could always take it down after the kid is gone' _the thought actually made her a little sad though _'that can't possibly be a good sign'._

Before they knew it they were finished painting the room and Benjamin had put the finishing touches on his masterpiece and had sat down on the floor to do some experiments with the leftover paints on the drop cloth. They panicked a little when they realized both what time it was and that a significant amount of the littlest blonde was covered in paint. _'Soooo, we might have to replace that outfit' _thought Arizona.

Silently communicating, Teddy scooped up Ben to clean him up while Arizona tried calling Aria again. _'Come on, it's 9:30, the very least she could do is send a message' _Upon once again reaching voicemail, Arizona left another message and went upstairs to see how Teddy was fairing with cleaning Ben up.

She tried her best not to laugh, she really did, but she just couldn't when she made it to the top of the stairs just on time to see a wet, bubbly and almost naked little boy run by being chased by her lanky friend who looked like she might have just gone swimming. Sobering up slightly when she caught her friend's glare, she took the towel out of her hands and caught up to the boy, bundling him up and carrying him back to the bathroom.

"I think his clothes might be part of his masterpiece…" Teddy held up the paint covered clothes. Arizona grimaced thinking of the damage that a small child covered in paint could do. Wondering how exactly this whole situation would appear to outsiders, the trio made their way to Arizona's closet and tried to find something for Benjamin that wouldn't just fall off or be so long that he'd trip as well as finding some clean and dry clothes for the older blondes. Half an hour later the three emerged from the bedroom, Arizona in Ninja Turtle boxers and a long sleeved blue shirt, Teddy in Spongebob boxers and a grey shirt with 'Army' across the chest, and the littlest blonde in the smallest black shorts they could find with an old Power Rangers shirt. Teddy couldn't help but smile and shake her head, this felt ridiculous but today was the most fun they had in quite some time.

By 10:30 they still hadn't heard from Aria and there was still no response to their texts or calls. They quietly talked about what they should do while Ben had a glass of milk. They knew he should be in bed soon, even they were exhausted from the long day. They just didn't know what to do about having the little boy overnight…they didn't really know Aria and still hadn't heard from her, neither seemed particularly fond of the idea of contacting the police, nobody really wanted to deal with that unless it was absolutely necessary. They tried calling Aria again before talking to Ben about what was happening. Of course there was still no answer from this mysterious Aria.

As they looked at each other, Ben came over to tug at the bottom of their shirts "'Zona…Teddy…I'm tired…" They shared a small smile and Arizona picked him up to rest on her hip "C'mon then, let's head to bed"

"We're having a sleepover?" A more tired version of his megawatt smile made an appearance and he snuggled into the blonde's shoulder, he was out before they even got a chance to answer.

Teddy let out a sigh looking at the two, "You go, take him to bed. I'll lock up and try calling Aria again, maybe I'll have better luck" Arizona nodded "Looks like my bed's going to be extra cozy tonight" They laughed and headed off in their separate ways.

Teddy didn't have any better luck trying to get a hold of Aria and was getting a little cranky after she managed to stub her toes on the stairs and run into a doorframe before she got up the stairs, not to mention how tired she was, and this supposed to be her time off. By the time she got to the bedroom though, she couldn't help but smile, the pair hadn't even managed to pull the blankets completely back or turn off the lights, yet they were both passed out; the taller blonde on her back with her head melting back into the pillows and a protective arm wrapped around the little blonde sprawled across her with a firm grip on her t-shirt. She just couldn't resist, she pulled out her phone and snapped a few photos of the adorable pair. Who knows, if this Aria chick didn't turn out to be completely crazy she might appreciate a few cute shots of the little guy too.

Checking again for messages before turning off the light, not surprised when she didn't see any, she snuggled into bed with the other two blondes and made sure to turn the volume up on their phones on the off chance that Aria decided to let them know what was going on.

Around 2:30am Teddy awoke to a chime sound beside her, she tried her best to open her eyes and hissed as the screen lit up.

'_txtd Cal-c u tmmrw –Axx'_

Teddy groaned and dropped the phone back onto the nightstand _'that isn't even a message…and who the fuck is Cal? Husband? Boyfriend? Ugh…this is ridiculous' _She fell back asleep grumbling to herself.

It felt like she had just fallen back asleep when she heard a thumping noise, she groaned again and looked over to her left, apparently those two could sleep through anything. She laid there for a second before remembering what had woken her up and realized it was someone at the door. She quietly slipped out of bed and padded her way down to the door, scooping up a hammer on the way, just in case. She tried to get a peek at who is was but it was too dark out, _'looks like Aria' _she shrugged _'I was in the Army, not like I can't protect myself if I really need to' _she shrugged and opened the door.

She looked the woman in the doorway up and down as her brows furrowed in confusion and she pulled back a little and frowned, wondering if her tired mind was playing tricks on her, there were similarities, her memory couldn't be that off though could it? "You're not Aria…" She narrowed her eyes as if to try to study the woman and prove herself wrong

The woman who bore a strong resemblance to Aria stood in the doorway with a 'well,duh' look on her face "No, I'm not" she deadpanned.

* * *

wahwahwahhhhh. Maybe that clears a few things up? Makes some things a little more murky? Also a little heads up, the story won't really be Erica friendly, not so much Mark either but he doesn't really make much of an appearance – in all honesty I'm more of a fan of Erica than Mark in most cases…Erica paves the way for the awesomeness that is Calzona while Mark seems to drive with chains on his tires over said paving. But what can you do.

Thoughts are always welcome ;)


	4. A Bed for Two

**A/N: Theoretically, this chapter should clear some things up for those who may be confused :) Also, I've changed the description to be slightly less vague, but if anyone wants to write a better one it would be super awesome ;)**

* * *

_The woman who bore a strong resemblance to Aria stood in the doorway with a 'well,duh' look on her face "No, I'm not." she deadpanned._

x-x

Teddy assumed that some sort of explanation would follow. After a few moments of silence her eyebrows raised and she gestured "Well?"

Still getting no response, she continued "Look, it's been a really long day. If you are Aria, and my memory is really that bad, then feel free to let me know. You do realize what time it is, right?"

Teddy watched emotions play over not-Aria's face, thinking that she might just be drunk or high when she saw realization and shock but tensed a little when she saw anger. "You don't even know Aria well enough to know I'm not her? She's _not here?! _Are you serious? Is this some sort of joke?"

"Whoa, whoa whoa whoa. Why don't you start-"

"No! No, no, no! I'm here for my son." The Latina was furious, her shoulders were squared and her fists were clenched. Teddy gasped as her eyes widened, "Your son?" Her mouth fell open "Ben is your kid?"

The stranger fought the urge to roll her eyes "Yes. Who's did you think he was? You know what, don't answer that. Can I have my son now please." It wasn't really a question. She was getting more and more angry, hoping for Aria's sake that wouldn't see her for a few days.

Teddy groaned and straightened her posture while sighing and holding out her hand. _'It's like 3 in the fucking morning.' _"I'm Teddy Altman. Why don't you come in and we'll talk?" The stranger reluctantly took her hand "Callie. Torres." She let go of the proffered hand as Teddy gestured for her to come inside.

"Given what little I understand about the situation, I assume that you're probably worried about your little man, so why don't we go check on him and then we can come back down here and talk?"

Callie reluctantly agreed, wanting nothing more than to scoop up her boy and take him home, but realizing Teddy probably thought the whole thing was ridiculous and might even call Child Services without an explanation…which was something she would also like. After all, she was the one finding out that her little boy has been in the care of strangers for God knows how long.

They made their way upstairs, Callie briefly noting that not much seemed to be occupying the house. Teddy stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall and quietly spoke to Callie "Remember, we agreed to let them sleep…" Callie nodded _'Wait…them?' _Teddy opened the door and motioned towards the bed. Callie's head turned and took in the scene before her: a gorgeous blonde woman sprawled out with protective arms wrapped around her precious little boy who was more on the woman than the bed itself, they both seemed to be murmuring, she soon realized they having a conversation; whether they realized it or not. Teddy and Callie watched, watery eyed; Teddy marvelling at how her best friend seemed so at ease and just, well…_perfect_ with the tiny human, almost like they had always known each other. Callie was torn, she was happy because her son looked so peaceful and he had clearly been taken care of…but she was understandably jealous that she wasn't the one there cuddling with him, he was never that openly affectionate, especially around strangers. They quietly listened while the two blondes unknowingly carried out their conversation.

"Not 'pecial" Callie's heart broke a little more, hoping that wasn't how her son felt

"Very special" There might have been a comforting squeeze? The room was only lit by the moonlight coming through the windows and Callie suddenly wished she could be watching this scene in HD

"…'rica says I'm not…not 'pecial…not smart…doesn't like me…soft…said so"

"Eric's…wrong…awesome, you're awesome…very smart…the best"

The supportive words must have gotten through as a small smile spread across Ben's face as she snuggled further into Arizona. Callie took a moment to take in her son, in black shorts and what appeared to be some sort of tshirt with a design on it, snuggled into the blonde who wore an ensemble similar to her son and the blonde beside her. _'Ay dios mios…they look like the perfect little family' _Her heart felt like it was melting and shattering at the same time as she dissolved into sobs, causing the blondes in bed to stir and Teddy to almost shove her out of the room. Teddy was about to scold the woman for almost waking them but changed her mind after seeing the look on the other woman's face. "C'mon…let's go back downstairs"

They made their way back down and Teddy got them each a glass of water and gestured to a bean bag chair. Callie looked at her with a slightly raised eyebrow and Teddy just shrugged "It's that or the floor" she gestured around to the house "I know you're preoccupied but it's kinda obvious that there aren't many alternatives" She smiled a little, hoping to lighten the mood, but it didn't really work. Callie fell into the chair and crumbled "He's just…she was…you're…so _happy_…_perfect_…I'm a horrible mother…" She dropped her head back to stare at the ceiling "He probably hates me. And what was he mumbling about Erica…I can't…she wouldn't…" Teddy spaced out watching the woman ramble, which led to her rambling in Spanish and made her remember the last time she saw someone start ranting in Spanish…which had led to this whole mess.

She held up her hands and raised her voice a little to grab Callie's attention "STOP. Just, please, I didn't even understand what you were saying before you switched languages. How about we start from the beginning?"

It seemed to snap Callie out of her rant as she blushed a little and took a sip of water and nodded, figuring it was probably better to let Teddy lead this; she was far more calm and collected. Teddy tried to make enough sense of all the questions running through her head so could at least seem put together. "Well, first, I'll address to only part of that I understood: he won't hate you."

"Now, who is Aria, if she isn't Ben's mother?"

"She's my younger sister…Benny's Aunt"

"So she was babysitting?"

"_She was supposed to be,_" Callie mumbled and decided she should probably try to explain, figuring she already seemed crazy she took a deep breath and started the (shortened) story of her day "Aria's staying with me because she's having a rough time, but it isn't really my place…it's my girlfriend's house…who's kind of pissed at me. She suggested we spend the day together…which went horribly...but, anyway, she wanted to go out and leave Ben with Aria…which I didn't agree to at first…but I didn't think anything particularly bad would happen…like, you know, my kid ending up with strangers…" she sighed and looked back towards Teddy

"Okay, I guess that makes sense. So how did you know he was here?" It would have at least more sense if she had of shown up _with _Aria.

"Well at first she just sent me a text saying that she and Ben were going to have a sleepover. Which would have been alright…except that she doesn't have her own place." Teddy could just about see a visual change as the rant came "I then tried to get a hold of her for HOURS…hours! I couldn't fall asleep because I was worried about where they could be; with the way Aria's been lately it could be basically anywhere. I finally got a message at 2am…that I don't even think was addressed to me, that just had this address, and a bunch of nonsense where the only word I could make out was Benny! So of course I rush over here, not having any idea who was with my son! And now all I want to do is take him home and never let him out of my sight again…I can't believe she left him with people she doesn't even know…I might have never seen him again…he's going to hate me…what if you guys were killers, or, or, pedophiles…or went to the police and told them what a horrible mother I am…we could have ran away…or,or-"

"Okay, okay. Just stop. He's fine…more than fine, he's great, and he won't hate you, okay? It's obvious that you love him a lot and didn't want anything bad to happen to him. Do you want to hear our side of what happened while you calm down, or would you like to take a little break?"

Callie adamantly shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes "No…no, I'd like to know now and just get everything all out there and cleared up."

Teddy nodded and ran through their day with the spirited little boy "He just came over to 'Zona while we were eating lunch and asked if she knew Batman" seeing the Latina perplexed as to why her son would ask a stranger that, the blonde offered a reassuring smile and continued "she was wearing a Batman shirt. And was a lot more dark and broody than normal. Anyway…it was like the two instantly bonded or something, as ridiculous as the sounds…" she smiled fondly, remembering how adorable and creepily similar the two blondes looked sitting together "I actually teased Ari, asking if she was sure she didn't have any kids…" She laughed softly and then quickly sobered remembering the mother next to her worrying about her child potentially hating her, and here she was saying that he looked like someone else's long lost son. She offered a sheepish "Sorry" and cleared her throat to continue "So, uhm, we just talked about superheroes and stuff and that's when Aria came around the corner." She tried to focus her thoughts back on the conversation as she remembered both her and Arizona blatantly checking the woman out, _'Zona's really going to be knocked off her feet when she meets Callie…' "_ She looked happy and relieved to see Ben so we just assumed that she must be his mother or caretaker…but then she just started rambling, and then got a phone call and basically told us we were looking after Ben and before we knew it we were left with him…all she left was her name in Ari's phone, she didn't even say when she was going to get him or anything." She paused to sigh

"So, wait…_my son _willing went up to a couple of strangers and carried on a conversation? That doesn't really seem like something he would do…" Callie seemed a bit hesitant and Teddy remembered part of Aria's rambling, something about him being shy or something, she had ignored it because it didn't seem true, she noticed he was slightly more hesitant around her than Arizona but she just figured it was because those two just…_connected._

"Yeh…I think Aria rambled on about him being shy or something but he really didn't seem it…he climbed onto Zona's lap and sat there the whole time we were at the restaurant, and he had no problem holding his own when we were talking to him, he made himself at home here with us," she shrugged "he was really polite though, a little hesitant sometimes…insecure, maybe? Not really shy though"

Callie nodded a little sadly and Teddy tried to lighten the conversation "It seemed like he had fun though, and was pretty happy…he might need a new outfit though…" she winced slightly and looked to Callie, who had her brows furrowed in confusion so Teddy elaborate "we, uh…he wanted to help us work on the house, so Ari set up a canvas for him to paint while we painted the walls…and, well, a lot of paint went on the canvas but a lot of it seemed to end up on him too" she tried her best 'innocent' face and looked around for her phone and flipped through to the pictures "…here…" she handed it to Callie to look at "I'll understand if you don't want us to have the pictures of him, 'cuz he is your son and all, but I just couldn't help but take a few of them when it didn't seem like they were paying attention…there should be a few of them there playing with the paint and a few of them passed out before they even managed to turn the lights out or get all the way into bed…which…there's only one bed here right now…otherwise he totally would have been offered his own…we're totally not-" Now Teddy was the one feeling like she might end up in some sort of trouble, how had not thought of any of this before? _'Well, there really is only one bed here, there wasn't much else we could do…'_

Callie smiled gratefully, glad she wasn't the only one worrying. She interrupted and waved off the conversation "Don't worry about it, in a strange house he probably would have found his way to your bed anyway" she turned her attention back to the pictures and her smile dropped a little, the woman who seems to have stolen her son's heart was absolutely breathtaking, and they looked so happy together. All she could picture was the three blondes together, looking like a perfect little family…she looked at the last picture of the two blondes asleep at the edge of the bed until the screen dimmed and eventually shut off before handing the phone back to Teddy "Thanks…for sharing that…and everything today…Ben looked so cute, and your girlfriend is gorgeous…and you as well, I can just imagine – you three would just look so…so…like a family? You know?"

Teddy control the laugh that escaped her as she fell further back into her bean bag chair and shook her head. Callie just became confused and a little angry that this woman was laughing at her. "Um, excuse me?"

Teddy looked up and smiled "Sorry, I wasn't laughing at you. It wouldn't be the first time 'Zona and I have been mistaken for a couple…we aren't together, but thanks?"

"Oh…" it was Callie's turn to laugh, although it came out as more of an awkward chuckle "I'm sorry…I just assumed…with the way you talk about her and the whole…" she gestured to the house "and the one bed thing…I just…sorry" she yawned

"Hey, don't worry about it. Like I said, wouldn't be the first time…and that other stuff really doesn't help, but I don't actually live here….but anyway, how about we get some rest until the kids wake up" she winked and got up to clear the boxes off the couch so that Callie wouldn't have to sleep on a beanbag chair. "It isn't much, but it's better than the floor or a beanbag chair…" she shrugged and smiled as she headed off to get a pillow and blanket.

"See you in the…later morning?" she chuckled at the situation

"Yeh, goodnight…or morning, and thanks again, Teddy"

"No problem, he really is a great kid"

With that, Teddy flicked the lights back off and made her way upstairs. Callie listened until she heard the bedroom door open and close before sighing and sinking back into the couch "Why…why,why,why,why" she was still grumbling when she heard the door open and close again, followed by feet padding down the stairs, and then grumbling, and the beanbag chairs being moved, and then a body dropping against them.

Callie wore an amused smirk and turned to her side to face the lanky woman who was now trying to get comfy with her body stretched across two beanbag chairs "Got kicked out of bed, huh? You sure you two aren't a couple?" Teddy jumped and clutched her chest "Holy shit! I thought you were asleep! And no, I did not get kicked out of bed." She smirked back and then her face fell and she grumbled "I don't even know how one woman and a small child can take up a whole King sized bed" Callie couldn't help but laugh as she pictured it. Teddy wasn't able to stay grumpy for long as she thought about and soon found herself smiling along with Callie as they both fell asleep, thinking of the two blondes upstairs hogging a whole bed.

* * *

**A/N: So, that helps a little, right? ;)**


	5. Can't Say No

Teddy woke later that morning feeling like she had been hit by a truck. She groaned as she stretched and looked around, remembering what had happened last night/this morning. _'No wonder everything hurts' _she thought as she looked at how the beanbag chairs failed to provide enough space for her tall body. "Should've just slept on the floor" she grumbled as she made her way to the kitchen the start making some coffee. She thought about waking the slumbering woman on the couch, or the two blondes upstairs but shook the idea figuring it would be best if as many of them got a good rest as possible.

Teddy was leaning against the kitchen's bar cupping her coffee between her hands and lost in her thoughts when Callie stumbled over yawning "What time is it?" She leaned against the counter as well, mumbling an apology for talking and yawning at the same time. Teddy checked her phone and looked up to the Latina "Quarter after 10. Coffee?"

"Yes, please. Shouldn't they be up by now? Shouldn't we check on them? Is everything okay?" She rambled on looking nervous and slightly panicked

"You don't spend much time apart from him, do you?" Teddy lifted a brow and Callie slowly shook her head.

"They're fine. Just let them rest. Actually, I thought you would have slept longer…here…" She slid a mug of coffee to Callie and got herself comfy atop one of the barstools.

x-x

Arizona felt the Sun's rays streaming through the window and warming her up as she woke, but she felt warmer than usual. She had begun convincing herself that she was still dreaming when she felt something move against her, and she could have sworn she heard a little voice calling her name.

"Zona…Zona…Ar'Zona…" The little blonde grinned wickedly remembering how his Mami got him out of bed when he didn't want to get up. He wiggled to readjust himself and brushed and lightly scratched his little fingers against Arizona's sides and giggled when he saw her start to smile and wiggle as she woke up.

"Ar'Zona…time to get up…sun's up!" He beamed as their blue eyes met

Arizona tried to hide her smile and convincingly groan "But I don't wannaaaa" Ben wasn't buying it. Still wearing his big smile he tickled her again until she couldn't help but laugh and tickled him back until –

THUD!

The two troublemakers were now sprawled out, tangled up in blankets on the floor beside the comfy bed they had just occupied. They laughed and looked to each other to see if the other was in pain, but both blondes were still smiling brightly.

"Where's Teddy, little man?" Arizona looked to Ben, figuring he would probably know as he had clearly been awake longer. The littlest blonde just shrugged and moved closer to snuggle into Arizona again "Teddy gone when I woke up…" his head titled as he looked up at his new friend "Momma likes cartoons and coffee in the morning…did Teddy wake up early to watch Looney Tunes? Momma always wakes me up to watch too" He started to look a little sad at the thought one of his new friends wouldn't invite him to watch cartoons and Arizona couldn't help but smile, _'although Aria didn't really seem like the cartoon type…' _

"Aria likes Bugs and Daffy?" her eyes widened as she realized she said it out loud, she didn't want the kid to think that she didn't like his mom or anything like that, she may not understand her actions so far, but she must have done something right to have such a sweet kid, right?

Ben's face just scrunched up as he looked back at Arizona "No. Auntie Aria doesn't like anything fun."

'_Auntie? Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…shit shit shit'_

"Aria isn't your Mom?" she tried to keep her voice calm and watched as Ben shook his head "'rica made Auntie Aria take me so she could go out with Momma" _'Shit. Shit, shit, shit.'_

Arizona sighed, pulled herself of the floor and held her hands out for Ben, who just looked up at her with a pout, thinking from the sigh and disappearance of her smile that she no longer wanted him there. "What's wrong, Sunshine?" He held out his hands and wrapped his little person around her as she lifted him up and held him in her arms "I like it here with you and Teddy Bear" Arizona smiled and gave him a little squeeze "And we love having you here Benjamin, but don't you think your Momma is missing you?" He nodded against her shoulder "Momma will. Not 'rica." '_I've heard that name a few times now, it doesn't really seem like they like each other' _Arizona thought sadly, she didn't know why but she just wanted to do everything she could to make the little guy as happy as possible.

"Tell ya what…we'll hang out as long as possible until your Mom or Aria come to get you _and _you can come back here any time you want, as long as it's okay with your parents" She received a smile and a hug, which she took as an agreement and unceremoniously dropped the little guy on the bed to tickle him "Race to the kitchen? We can get Teddy to make us some breakfast while we watch cartoons" She grinned and winked to the little boy who returned her grin and jumped up to race. She just caught him on time and held him back, "Wait! There's rules. First: First one to the kitchen gets the Batman glass. Second: No running down the stairs. Third: We have to yell for Teddy the whole way, and Fourth: I always win!"

x-x

THUD!

The women in the kitchen looked up towards the ceiling as if they'd be able to see through the structure to see what had caused the loud noise. "What was that?" Callie asked, not _too_ worried at this point.

Teddy just waved it off "Probably nothing." More muffled noise could be heard and Callie started worrying a little more "Shouldn't we go check on them?"

"Naaah, they're fine. Zona probably just fell out of bed or something."

"But what about that…?" They stilled any movements to listen to the muffled noises "What is that Sonya lady is hurting my baby? What if he's upset and needs me?"

Teddy finally looked down from the ceiling and narrowed her eyes at the Latina "It's _Arizona_, and she would never hurt a child. I'm sure they're fine. They'll probably be down here any second."

"Arizona? Like that State? That's her name? Seriously? …maybe we should just meet them halfway or something, Benny doesn't even know I'm here…and you're down here, what if they think no one else is home and just stay – why do you have to be so calm about this? Can't you just worry with me?"

Teddy just shrugged and her expression remained neutral, bordering on disinterested "Not the state. The Battleship. They don't know you're here, but Zona knows I'm still here. They. Are. Fine."

"The Battleship? And how do you know? Can we pleeease just go – "

Callie was interrupted by the sound of the blonde stampede running and yelling upstairs and both girls' eyes widened in shock. Neither had really been expecting that, it sounded like a herd of wild animals was running through the house. Callie just gave Teddy her trademark cocky smirk "You sure about that whole 'them being just fine' thing?"

"I – "

x-x

They both grinned madly as they took off through the door and down the hallway. Arizona scooped Ben up at the top of the stairs and ran down with him, setting him down at the foot of the stairs so they could run the final leg of their race to the kitchen where Arizona was almost certain Teddy would be.

"TEDDY! TEDDY! TEDDY! TEDDY! TEDDY! TEDDY! TEDDY! TEDDY! TEDDY!" They kept yelling as they were running and trying not to run into anything, or each other.

x-x

Wide eyed and slack jawed, Callie and Teddy watched as the two blondes burst out of the hallway and into the kitchen and yelled "BREAKFAAAST!" at the same time. They both watched, still and quiet, as the blondes turned to each other each exclaiming that they had been the one to win and then amicably deciding they would call it a tie with little fuss.

Blonde and raven haired heads tilted at the same time as they watched the littlest blonde jump up towards the taller blonde who caught him and sat him on her hip like they had been doing this for years. They continued on towards the fridge, still in their own world and oblivious to the other two residents of the kitchen.

"Zona if we both won, who gets the Batman glass?"

"Well, what do you think would be fair?" She asked as she grabbed a carton of chocolate milk from the fridge and went to the cupboard to get the glass in question.

He inspected the glass as she filled it with chocolate milk and made up his mind with a nod of his head "It's big. We can share it!"

"Oh yeh?" She wore an amused smile, who would have thought that there was a kid that would willingly share so easily. Ben started to look a little worried or upset that Zona didn't like the idea of sharing with him so she went back to the cupboard to grab two straws and put them in the glass and gave him a smile "That sounds like an _excellent _idea, Benjamin!" He beamed and visibly relaxed

"Benjamin?!" That startled the two blondes as they spun around to the direction the voice had come from. They looked towards Teddy and Callie like a pair of deer caught in headlights.

Callie lost her words when the blonde turned around and their eyes met, she was the most gorgeous woman she had ever seen…and those eyes – sure she had noticed that the woman was good looking when Teddy had shown her pictures but it was another thing entirely to actually be in her presence and - "Momma?" That seemed to snap her out of it

"You never let anyone call you Benjamin…" Arizona couldn't tell whether it was awe or sadness she heard in the woman's voice, but she was sure that loved the wonderful sound of her voice regardless.

Ben just shrugged his little shoulders and relaxed back into Arizona "I like it when Zona says it." He just said it simply and reached for the chocolate milk again, as far as he was concerned that was all there was to it. Arizona handed him the glass and extended her hand to Callie "Uh…hi. I'm Arizona. Robbins…you must be Ben's Mom"

Callie shook her hand and felt like she had just been given a shot of adrenaline, her entire body felt like it was buzzing from a simply handshake. "Uhm," she cleared her throat "Calliope…" She mentally cursed herself for the slip up "Callie. Torres. Thank you…for taking care of Ben…and sorry, about Aria and everything…"

"Calliope…_Calliope_...I like it" She beamed as Callie flushed, _'Okay, can't really judge my son for liking his full name coming from this woman when I clearly like it too…Ugh…' _"And it's no problem. A little worrying at times, but Benjamin was great. We had lots of fun" Both Arizona and Ben seemed to smile a little wider at that

Callie didn't know what to do, for some reason she just wanted to spend the whole day here with this little makeshift family…_'You have a girlfriend, Callie. And you still don't know where your sister is…nor do you know these women…suck it up and go home…' _She almost audibly swallowed and shook her thoughts, "I, uh…you ready to go home Ben?" She tried to offer a reassuring smile to her son who was currently looking back at her like she had just suggested that he only eat vegetables from now on.

"Me and Zona have to watch cartoons. Momma can help Teddy make breakfast!" He beamed while remembering what Zona had told him earlier. Arizona couldn't help but grin, knowing that Teddy wouldn't be able to say no "Yeh, Momma and Teddy, breakfast while we watch cartoons!" Taking the time to check out her houseguest while she stood there slightly dazed. _'Oh…the things I'd like to – Nope, don't go there Robbins – " _She skipped out of the room with Ben before anyone had a chance to say anything else (and before she could do anything that Teddy was tease her about for years to come).

Callie looked significantly paler as she turned to Teddy, making sure the woman had actually been there with her and hadn't disappeared "You were right, they are eerily alike…" The thought of their matching dimples and blue eyes and how well they got along with one another had Callie muttering about how glad she was that she hadn't adopted or she be terrified right now.

Teddy finally decided to snap out of her own little world and turned her gaze to the muttering woman left in the kitchen with her. "Did you even hear any of that?" Callie asked, wondering how on earth the blonde wasn't as raptly fascinated by all of this as she was.

"Right…uhm…yeh…I…uh…" she shook her head and plastered on a big smile "Let's make those two goofballs breakfast, shall we?"

Callie narrowed her eyes towards the tall woman and moved to help anyway. _'She seems to know something that the rest of us are obviously missing…'_

* * *

_**A/N: tedah! Next chapter will be a little more drama-y, and more about Teddy! Cuz wouldn't we all like to know more about AZ's best friend? And don't forget Aria still hasn't returned, and Erica hasn't made an appearance yet either ;) It's been cool to hear what you guys think of Arizona/Ben, nobody's right so far :D**_


	6. Dimples and Dimples Jr

**A/N: I apologize in advance for any mistakes, I was listening to mashups on 8tracks the whole time I was writing this and it turns out that often led to problems for my poor little brain! I think I caught everything though :)**

**Ps. Thanks for all the favs/reviews/follows guys, this is an excellent way to avoid all those gross 'responsibilities', aside from my departure to Never Neverland, I'll try to keep up with this updating pace because I have a tendency to get sidetracked with new ideas and want to follow through with this one!**

**Dance party, anyone?**

* * *

Callie and Teddy worked together in the kitchen making a nice big breakfast. Callie had to admit that, even though it wasn't completely finished, it was a very nice kitchen and had lots of potential. She looked around, paying more attention and noticing more about the home now that she knew that her little boy was safe and sound.

They quietly gathered what few breakfast making supplies, studied what they had available to them and turned to look at each other to make their suggestions resulting in them speaking at the same time.

"Zona loves bacon and French toast" "Benny loves bacon and French toast"

They shared a smile and slightly awkward laugh while they got to work. This was getting a little weird.

x-x

Arizona set Ben down and went to take the drop cloth off of the tv and plug everything in so the pair could watch their cartoons. Ben's eyes glazed over as he watched the older blonde uncover a huge flat screen tv "WHOOOOA…Zona your teebvee is gi-normous!" Arizona chuckled and flopped into one of the beanbag chairs; she noticed the couch had been cleared and briefly wondered how long Calliope had been waiting for them to wake up before focusing her attention on the tv to find some good cartoons to watch.

Ben held out the glass of milk to Arizona to hold and she was a bit surprised that he climbed on to her lap to share the one beanbag chair and it must've shown because he just gave her a shrug, "easier to share our milk Zona" She smiled and shook her head, there was that subtle confidence that she hoped shone through more than his insecurity. He kind of reminded her of her and twin brother Tim at his age, they had each other to pump up their egos though.

She wasn't sure if she'd readily admit it out loud yet, but she actually _wanted _this kid around and secretly wished that they'd get to keep spending time together. _'I wouldn't mind spending time with his mom either…Stop it…she's married to that Eric twat that seems to have a problem with my little man…whooooa, __**your **__little man?!'_

x-x

Callie looked up and out towards the living room when she heard laughter and giggles. The sight she was greeted with was made her feel like her heart was just melting into a pile of mush, the two blondes were snuggled into each other, practically swallowed by the beanbag chair, and appeared to be having some sort of drinking race, each with a straw in their mouth with a determined yet playful look on their face.

Teddy following Callie's gaze, yelled to the pair "You're going to get stomach aches, you two! I don't want to hear any complaining!" sounding every bit a mother. Callie initially blushed at being caught but was quickly laughing and rolling her eyes when she heard two distinct voices hollering "YEEES, TEDDY BEAR!" and the grumbling of the woman beside her at the nickname. She smirked and turned her gaze to Teddy "Not a fan of "Teddy Bear?"?"

"Don't even get me started." She grumbled, but couldn't help the small smile that escaped…it was _kind of _cute when they said it….not that she'd ever admit that.

"Ya know…I like it here." Callie nonchalantly said while flipping the last piece of French toast.

Teddy saw this as her opportunity to pry…_no, not pry…gently interrogate? A little friendly questioning? _"Yeh? It is a pretty nice neighbourhood…" she feigned innocence while glancing at Callie.

Callie gently laughed and shook her head in response "Well, yeh, it is. I actually only live like a street over. But I meant just, you know…being here…it's nice…cozy…it's, like…family-ish? It's just nice and…warm" she backed it up with a genuine smile and shrugged in attempt to brush it off

"It isn't like that at your place?" Teddy tried to gently ask

Callie let out a humourless laugh "Not right now. Not for a while really…here is _much _better…sorry…I didn't mean to unload on you, or whatever…"

Teddy waved her off "Don't worry about it. You can chill here with us as long as you want, or need, to" She offered a reassuring smile and gave Callie's shoulder a squeeze as she moved across the space to get some plates. "Thanks. I might take you up on that."

'_You aren't really giving me very helpful info here, Callie' _She thought and decided to go with a slightly more direct approach "Your husband won't be worrying about you two?"

A rueful smile appeared on the Latina's face "Girlfriend, actually. Erica. You must have heard Ben, right? Sometimes it sounds like he says Eric; he pretty much makes it a goal to call her nothing but her name" Another humourless chuckle escaped while she shook her head, missing the colour disappear from Teddy's face "…and it would probably take her a while before she even realized we were missing…no, actually, she'd notice when she comes home from work and has no one to bitch to and make her dinner…sorry….again…it was a long day"

"Oh," Teddy cleared her throat "That's…horrible." She frowned "Sorry."

"It's alright. No worries." She sprinkled some cinnamon over the French toast and tried not to think about her situation with Erica "So…you and Arizona are pretty close…"

No it was Teddy's turn to laugh "Yeh, you could say that…we grew up together. Her, Tim and I pretty much did everything together…" She sighed wistfully "We all moved around a lot, but always stuck together…"

"Tim?"

"Uh, yeh…Zona's twin brother."

"She has a twin?"

"Had a twin" A sad smile made an appearance

"It's okay, you didn't know. Just try not to mention it to Ari? She's still dealing with it in her own way"

"How long?"

"A little over two years ago."

"Can I ask what happened? It's totally okay if you don't want to talk about. I'd understand"

Teddy took a deep breath, assuming it would come out sooner or later "He died overseas. We were actually serving together…sometimes I think it should have been me" She shrugged sadly and sighed "Thinking like that leads to nowhere though, right?"

Callie nodded and they simultaneously sighed and shared a small laugh. Teddy moved towards the living room to call Arizona and Ben for breakfast and a small argument ensued about how breakfast "had to be eaten in the living room so they wouldn't miss the best parts of Finding Nemo "one of the bestest movies ever"". The women in the kitchen just rolled their eyes and conceded; Teddy knew Arizona had watched it a million times already and owned it on DVD, Callie knew that Ben had also watched it a million times and she was almost sure they owned _multiple_ copies. Deciding not to bother trying to argue with the pair, they just put Ben and Arizona's food on one plate for them to share (it was becoming apparent they weren't going to move while the movie was playing) and settled into the couch to enjoy their own breakfast.

x-x

That's how they remained two hours later, engrossed (embarrassingly so, in Teddy and Callie's opinion) into their third movie of the day, Lion King. And that was how Aria had found them as she strode in through the front door like she owned the place. She crossed her arms as she smirked, going unnoticed she raised her voice "Well, isn't this cozy?"

The other four occupants of the room jumped as their attention shifted from Timon and Pumba to Aria.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Aria." Callie crossed her arms and it became a stare down between the two Latinas. Three blonde heads looked back and forth between the two, waiting for something to happen…the inevitable explosion from what they had learned were two very emotional and somewhat temperamental and fiery women.

Aria finally broke the silence "Hakuna Matata, right?" She tried to muster her best charming and innocent face that she had seen her nephew pull of countless times and get away with. Her attention shifted to the two blondes in the beanbag chair grinning at her Lion King reference "Holy shit. Dimples and Dimples Jr. …how'd I miss that yesterday" She muttered to herself to try to save herself from further trouble.

"You left _my son _with _strangers_, Aria."

"Well it all worked out, right? You all looked pretty happy. Benny looks a lot happier here than with the Wicked Witch" She figured she might as well get it out now, after all, her sister wouldn't kill her in front of Ben, right?

Callie just gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes "We're so not doing this now."

Ben seemed to sense his mother's mood and turned to his Aunt "Come watch the movie too Auntie Aria!"

Aria smiled "Thanks Benny, but I just came to pick you up to take you to your Mami, but she's already with you and…mad…at me right now…"

"Not mad, right Mami?" He turned back to his mother for an answer while she let out an exasperated sigh

"It's complicated baby…she left you with people neither of you knew when she was _supposed _to be taking care of you…"

"But Zona and Teddy are awesome Mami" Arizona couldn't help but smirk at that "I like them."

Callie sighed again "I know you do baby, but that's not the – " "You like them too, Mami." And that's where his trademark stubbornness came in.

"What?" Callie responded, eloquent as always.

"You were laughing with Teddy an' you make gooey eyes at Zona" He tilted his eye as if daring her to argue. Callie shrunk back with blush that could rival a tomato and an impressive goldfish imitation while the other three adults seemed thoroughly amused.

"Weeeell, I think I'll be going…" Aria decided to take a tiny amount of pity on her big sister, hoping she'd remember later when the lecture came. She really didn't want to have to find somewhere else to live.

Callie cleared her throat and stood up from the couch "Actually, I think I should too. Come on Benny" she held her hand out for Ben

"But Maaaami, can't I stay?" Arizona looked sad that he was leaving but gave him a reassuring squeeze "It's okay little man, we'll walk you out to the car" She tried to give him a big smile, she really just didn't want him to leave yet.

"Oh, uhm…I actually don't have a car here…I recognized the street name when Aria texted me and just ran over…Aria?"

"I got dropped off…"

"Oh, right, you said you lived around here" Teddy finally chimed in

"Really? Well, we could walk you back, right Teds?" Arizona flashed her dimples at Callie, deciding to test Ben's 'gooey' theory; nobody can say no to the dimples anyway, Tim and her had learned that long ago.

When Callie saw those dazzling blue eyes and dangerous dimples her mind became a barren wasteland. She tried to look elsewhere and only saw an almost matching expression on her son…the two of them together… "I…uhm…I-uh…s-sure…wa-walking…" Everyone but Callie seemed to share a giggle as they moved to get ready to go out. They took rotations of cleaning and getting changed, Callie and Aria being the only ones wearing proper clothes. Unfortunately, Ben's options were the loaned pjs or paint covered clothes, not that he cared. He decided to stick with the clothes he had borrowed, knowing that it would mean getting to bring them back.

Before any of them really wanted to they were heading out the door. All hoping they'd get to hang out again soon, they made their way through the neighbourhood. Ben getting a piggy back ride on Arizona after being tickled by Teddy and Aria…Callie, Teddy and Aria talking about work; learning what they all did for a living; Arizona as an illustrator, Callie as a publisher, Teddy as a personal trainer and Aria living off of family money…the conversation flowed and everything just felt…right.

"Well, this is us…"

* * *

**I know I said more drama-y and more about Teddy but I had actually skipped ahead a chapter in my head when I wrote that. So, really, not much happened this chapter in comparison, there are a few important tidbits though ;)**


	7. The Robbins-Sloan Method

**A/N: I changed my mind about the Mark unfriendliness and pretty much trashed any parts of the story I had written with the not cool him…I do like him for the most part, so I'll go with it. In my opinion it takes the story to a much better place, so hopefully you guys will agree!**

* * *

Instead of parting ways the group ended up heading inside together. Callie had her 'chat' with Aria in her study while the three blondes kept themselves busy with Ben's cars and action figures. Erica had left a message for Callie while the crew was outside, stating something about a case and that she wouldn't be home until tomorrow. Arizona and Teddy thought something might be up when the only reaction garnered from basically being told that the third family member wasn't going to be there was an eye roll from the older Torres and a slightly wider smile from the younger Torres, but it slipped to the back of their minds when there was talk of pizza and a movie for dinner time. Ben passed out on the floor next to Arizona and Aria later that evening and the adults continued to talk for a bit before exchanging contact info and heading their separate ways and promising to hang out again soon.

x-x

A week passed by, and Arizona and Ben seized every opportunity they could to go over to the other's house. They didn't see Callie or Teddy often, as they were busy with work but Aria would sometimes tag along and play with them or sit around under the guise of helping with Arizona's renovating. Ever since talking with Callie a week ago Aria had been around more often and making an effort to have a better attitude and be more responsible. She had actually become quite fond of spending time with "Dimples and Dimples Jr.".

Unbeknownst to the other, Callie and Arizona had each been grilling Aria for more information on each other. Callie heard more about how much fun Arizona and Ben were having together as well as little tidbits about her personality; how stubborn she could be, how she was 'perky too often' and apparently couldn't cook much beyond the basics and often persuaded Aria to cook for them. She heard a bit about her work and what was happening around the house, and her favourite…that she was single, unfortunately that came with the tidbit that she was also a bit of a commitment phobe…which she tried to play off as unimportant anyway, she was in a relationship after all.

Arizona listened to stories about the eldest Torres' temper and some rather embarrassing high school stories involving the Latina being shy and something about chewing on her hair. She learned that Callie had actually been married, briefly…to a man, and that neither Aria nor Benjamin were fans of Erica, whom Arizona had had the good luck of not running into yet. Her favourite tidbit being that it was in fact Callie that gave birth to Benjamin; she may not have met Erica yet, but she knew enough to not like her so she was quite happy that Ben wasn't Erica's.

Arizona also had the fortune of making a new friend, although she probably wouldn't acknowledge said friendship verbally. Half way through the week when Arizona had mentioned finding someone to help with some electrical and plumbing work Aria took it upon herself to call her friend Mark, who had his own contracting company and would work for a great price because of his "hot chicks discount". Although initially hesitant about him coming over after hearing him being referred to as both an "ex-sex-friend" and best friend, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. After she got over the slightly condescending compliment(?) "Not bad, Blondie." And his ego got over her turning down his pick up attempt they managed to work together quite well. They constantly bickered like an old married couple, but both were excellent at what they did and their skills complimented each other. When Ben was around they were both great at including him and finding tasks that he would be able to help with; and neither were opposed to taking breaks to play games either. When Ben wasn't around they'd share inappropriate jokes and talk about girls they'd been with, or would like to be with, each talking up their various conquests. Challenges would be exchanged when either spoke about "stealing a player batting for the other team" and playful wagers would be made about who was more charming, the time easily slipping by as they verbally sparred.

Arizona had eventually given in to showing Mark her plans and sketches for the house and was surprised to find that Mark was almost as excited as she was and quickly started rearranging his schedule and crews so he could spend more time at the Robbins house. With the long periods of time they spent working together, and Mark even spending a few nights crashing on the couch, they soon got down to what neither of them liked talking about; Mark preferring avoidance with flirting and charm and Arizona with flirting and perkiness. They briefly talked about Mark's childhood, Arizona's dead twin brother Timothy, their best friends Teddy and Aria, how and why they both found it easier just sleep around, how Arizona's one attempt at a committed relationship screwed her over…causing her to close off and have trust issues…Mark's one attempt at a committed relationship screwing him _and _his best friend over…and resulting in him becoming a soon to be father, and still not knowing if the mother of said child wanted anything to do with him. They bonded over their strengths as well as short comings, and easily played off of each other's mood.

Much to their joy they had discovered on their many trips to pick up and shop for supplies that between the two of them they could easily charm almost anyone, man or woman, that they came across. Their odds were even better if Ben was tagging along with them. To an outsider it would probably look like they had been friends since childhood, or married, as Teddy liked to tease them. Aria often chose to pick on them for how similar they were even though both would deny being alike and that they could be a match made in heaven under different circumstances, which resulted in a resounding "Eugh, gross!" And Callie, well…Callie just tried her best not to be jealous. She knew she had no right to be, and she could admit that she found their constant bickering amusing, she felt like…like it should be _her _and Arizona going to the store with Ben and having strangers gawk over _their _beautiful family. But she had no business thinking that, not right now anyway.

x-x

Callie had been enjoying the time she got to spend with her new friends. It warmed her heart how they all embraced her son as part of the group and even went out of their way to make him happy. It also bothered her a little, how Arizona and Teddy let Ben just crash into their world without so much as a negative ripple in their atmosphere…their ecosystem wasn't tainted, their natural resources remained intact, no inhabitants were struggling to accommodate the addition of the strange new life form that came hurdling into their world from another…the environment just quickly altered and adapted to foster and encourage growth…they let him join in whatever they were doing and indulged him when he told his stories or gushed about his toys. They didn't even lose their cool when his Torres temper showed up. They were fantastic with him. Mark even welcomed little Ben with open arms and let him play 'manly man' while they were working on Arizona's house. She'd even witnessed them contain themselves to verbally silent angry stomping when hammers collided with fingers, clearly for the sake of Ben; she'd heard them while Ben wasn't around and she was certain that either of them could give a sailor a run for their money…maybe even show up her and Aria if the situation called for it.

She didn't entirely approve of the 'Robbins-Sloan Method' involving Benny to work their charm on strangers while they went out, but she had to admit that between ruggedly handsome Mark, drop dead gorgeous Arizona, ridiculously adorable Benny and the deadly dimples of the two blondes, it would be rather impossible to deny them anything…and Ben seemed to enjoy his part, and didn't seem any worse for wear. Plus, she kind of thought it was adorable when her 3 year old son pulled his best Barney Stinson imitation. She could just picture the little blonde approaching a pretty girl and doing his best: "Haaave you met my best friend Mark?" while he puffed his chest and gestured to Mark, or, her favourite: "Haaave you met my bestest friend Zona?" (only Arizona received the honour of being the "bestest" friend) and then he'd lean back against her legs and bat his eyelashes while holding Arizona's hands around his shoulders…initially Callie had scolded Arizona and Mark for teaching him to manipulate women like that, only to find out that it was all his own doing, which resulted in a rule of no more 'How I Met Your Mother'…even though she was pretty sure they didn't stop.

Even her sister was cleaning up her act for nephew; she never came home drunk anymore, volunteered to take care of Benny (and kept track of him!) and even cooked dinner for everyone at the Robbins house, where everyone had somewhere along the line agreed to meet up every night. Yet her own girlfriend hardly spent any time with Ben, who was supposed to be _their _son.

She had known that Erica had reservations about having children, so when she finally conceded and they had Benjamin she had chosen to overlook that Erica had all the paperwork drawn up to make sure that, legally, Ben was only Callie's. She was ecstatic and distracted by the fact that she was holding her little boy in her arms, so she just figured it was just Erica being Erica, making sure that nothing got in the way of her career. A few months later she had tried to bring it up and all Erica had said was something about making sure that Callie had her dream and "making sure that her and Ben wouldn't be seperated" if anything ever happened. It didn't seem sincere though, it seemed more like one of Erica's digs at Callie caring more about having a kid than her, but again, Callie brushed it off.

Now, Callie had been waiting to speak to the woman that she, supposedly, lived with. She couldn't even remember the last time she saw her…it was just a new message, either a text or voicemail, each day, declaring (in true Erica Hahn fashion) that she either wouldn't be home until after Callie and Ben would be asleep or wasn't going to make it home at all. As far as Erica was concerned decisions regarding work weren't something to be discussed, they were just decisions for Erica, and Erica alone, to make. Not once had she even asked how they were, or even mentioned Ben.

To say Callie was getting mad was an understatement. So tonight, after getting another message saying Erica wouldn't be home until at least midnight, Callie sat on the couch and waited for her to get home. By now she had all but reconciled with herself that this would be the end of her and Erica's relationship. It just wasn't working, and hadn't been for a while…maybe it never had, she bitterly thought. She wasn't quite sure what her plan was, she tended to be rather impulsive, and her, Aria and Ben would all, more than likely be homeless as a result of her decision, given that it was Erica's house, but it was time to get it all out there, it finally just felt like the right time. Besides: she had new friends, there are plenty of hotels and she has savings…everything will be fine.

x-x

At 1:30 the front door finally opened to reveal a grumpy blonde woman stumbling in, oblivious to dark chocolate eyes watching her every movement, only serving to further anger the Latina. "Erica."

Blue eyes snapped up and all movement stilled "Cal…"

"We need to talk."

"Look, Cal, I'm sorry I haven't been home much – "

"_**Much?! **_Erica, I've hardly seen you for the past _four weeks! _That's not okay! Our son is closer with the neighbours than he is with you!"

"The neighbours? I thought Aria was – " Deciding at the glare she received that she didn't focus on the correct part of what she was told she quickly changed directions, "Callie, I'm sorry, I really am – "

"Sorry isn't enough this time, Erica. This isn't the first – "

"I'll take the day off tomorrow!"

"…what?" Erica _never _took a day off. Callie thought she'd be more likely to throw herself off of a cliff before willingly miss a surgery.

"…I'll spend some time with Benjamin…and you…or just Ben, if you'll be working…"

Callie was shocked. It seemed liked Erica was willing to try, so she should too, right?

"That sounds…great" she offered a small, but mostly genuine smile "I'm sure Ben would enjoy that…" She took a deep breath and gulped, _'might as well bring it up now' _"…he…uh…thinks you don't like him…said something about you not thinking he was special…" She narrowed her eyes a little, studying the blonde across the room from her, trying to read her thoughts.

Erica gave a tight smile and kissed Callie's forehead "I'll talk to him tomorrow. It's fine." _'Not really an answer…'_

Callie watched the other woman climb the stairs up to their bedroom. Her smile didn't really look like a happy smile, but then, when _did _she look happy, it just wasn't a look Erica Hahn wore.

"Night Cal"

"…night Erica"


	8. Something's Missing

"But Mami I wanna hang out with Zona and Mark!"

"I know baby, but Mommy wants to spend the day with you."

"No. 'rica doesn't even like me."

"Of course she does, baby." _'Now would be the point where you reassure the kid, Erica…no? nothing? Of course not.' _"C'mon baby, you'll have lots of fun…"

He sighed and slumped in defeat…he'd do it to make his Mami happy. Maybe Erica would let him go to Zona's if he pouted enough, he knew she wouldn't want to spend very much time with him. Last time they had tried this they had gone to get ice cream at the park and she had almost forgotten him there and had barely spoken to him for their brief time together. It made Ben sad that Erica didn't like him, but he wasn't really upset that they hadn't spent much time together. They didn't really like each other; Ben didn't live up to Erica's ridiculous expectations and she did nothing to hide her disappointment around him, and Ben didn't like that Erica would talk to the other moms the way that he felt she should be talking to his Mom. But he would push aside how he felt because it made his Mami that they spend the time together.

Callie sighed and dropped her head as she watched the two blondes walk out the front door. Not talking or holding hands, they weren't joking or racing each other…they looked like they were going to a funeral. Callie found it hard not to compare Erica to Arizona in situations like this, even though she knew it was ridiculous…she was with Erica…Arizona didn't want to commit…_'probably wouldn't even want to be with me anyway…' _She started mumbling in Spanish to herself as she finished getting ready to go into her office and made sure to text Arizona and Mark to let them know that their little wingman wouldn't be able to join them today.

x-x

The day seemed to go by painfully slow for Arizona, Mark and Ben. They'd been spending the most time together so the change was the hardest on them. Arizona and Mark passed the time making fun of themselves for being so attached to the little boy. Eventually Mark admitted that it also made him think even more about his unborn child and how things between him and Addison still weren't resolved. Which also caused Arizona to think about her own problems, so they decided to try to help each other out, each understanding the other's dislike of 'feelings talk'.

"Well…do you love her?"

He laughed sadly "I want to…" she lifted her eyebrow and shot him a look "…no, I don't...I think I'm in love with my new office manager…you?" She gestured for him to elaborate even though she knew what he was asking.

"C'mon Blondie…I've seen the way you look at Torres…"

She sighed. "…I think I'm falling for Calliope…"

So they spent the rest of the day talking about Callie and how Arizona was trying to stay away because even though she didn't like Erica, she wouldn't destroy a relationship, especially after how her last relationship dissolved. She wasn't going to make someone else feel the way she had to. She also stated her spiel about not dating women with kids and her never wanting kids…to which Mark told her she was stupid and just looking for reasons now because she already loved Ben, which she had to admit was true. Without even realizing it, her mind had been changed about kids since the day that little boy came into her life.

They talked about Addison and that Mark may not want to be with her anymore but still wants to be a part of his child's life and would like to be friends with Addison if it was possible. He also wanted to try to patch things up with his (ex?)best friend, Derek, as well.

Next was Lexie; Mark gushing about how great she was and how he had managed to screw things up in a relatively short period of time. He had met her while things were on the rocks with Addison and Lexie had not taken the news that Mark had been sleeping with a married woman and gotten her pregnant well, not to mention that the woman was married to his best friend, of all people.

Both admitted that they might actually be looking for more and would be willing to settle down for the special ladies in their life, even briefly discussing how they could show that they were commitment worthy and figuring they might have start holding back on practicing the 'Robbins-Sloan Method' if they wanted things to turn in their favour.

Mark confided that he had been thinking about buying the house across the street that was in a similar condition to Arizona's, which Arizona actually thought would be pretty cool and offered to share her house until it was liveable. She was happy to have him around, although she thought he was a jerk at first, she thought of him as more of her second chance at having a brother now. She knew she'd never be able to replace Tim, but Mark was a good guy once you got to know him and it was nice to have that type of relationship with someone again. Mark also cherished his friendship with Arizona, thinking of her as the sister he always wanted. It made him understand how Arizona could still miss her brother Tim so much; he couldn't imagine being this close to someone and connecting so well and then losing them. In a short period of time they had formed that bond and neither wanted to sever it. Even Teddy and Aria were happy for them and glad that they had each other for support. They were initially jealous but neither of the pair spent any less time with their respective best friend as a result of the newly formed bond and they did realize that Mark and Arizona could talk to each other on a different level with how similar they were; they just knew how to get through to each other.

x-x

They were down two people at their nightly dinner party that evening; Erica had made her way home with Ben and insisted upon a family dinner despite a soft protest from Callie and a not so soft protest from Benjamin.

Teddy and Aria tried to cheer Mark and Arizona up when they found out that they wouldn't get to see their best little buddy at all today. They carried on a light conversation through dinner about how their days went. Aria had gone to work with Callie to "try to get a feel for the working world" and Teddy had started with a new client and would be assisting a fellow ex-Marine with physical therapy at the hospital. Mark and Arizona just ran through the work they finished and didn't mention anything they'd talked about. Looking at the pair of them at a particularly sombre moment, Aria offered to take a picture of her and Ben when she got home and message it right away if they'd stop being "lame pouty babies" and it seemed to cheer them up a bit.

x-x

Callie was surprised to find an empty house when she returned home from work. It was worrisome as well as a bit of a relief that they weren't home yet. She thought that Erica's resolve would be short lived and worried about her little boy being upset and possibly coming home to World War 3, but if they were still out that must mean they were both making an effort and her snap judgement call last night couldn't have been totally wrong.

When she heard the front door open she started making her way out of the kitchen. She had expected for them to either be joking around or grumpy, with the strong possibility of angry red faces or some tears…small smiles if it went particularly well…there was even a little weather girl in her head running through the emotional forecast.

Instead, she was greeted with the same emotionless expressions she watched leave in the morning. They still didn't look like they liked each other but they didn't necessarily look unhappy either. She decided not to push it and wait for them to come to her about it. Unfortunately, Ben didn't take after her when it came to dealing with emotions; while she was forthcoming and wore her heart on her sleeve, only trying to hide her emotions if it had the possibility of hurting others or on the off chance she was unsure of herself, Ben was wise beyond his years when it came to reading others emotions but internalized any feelings or thoughts that he didn't like and could be impressively guarded for someone who was supposed to be in one of the most impulsive stages of his life. She knew for a fact that Erica probably wouldn't approach her unless Ben had something particularly bruising to her ego and had done something that she thought wasn't appropriate.

Raising Ben was often a point of contention between Callie and Erica. Callie still felt like Erica didn't really want to have a child, even now, when he'd soon be 4 years old. Erica had exceedingly high expectations for a child his age and she could have sworn Erica mutter blatant insults that she should have been the mother so the boy would be "more intellectual and less emotional". In Erica's eyes, Benjamin just never measured up to what she wanted, whereas to Callie, he was the best little boy a mother could ask for. Eventually the couple stopped talking about it all together; it wasn't that hard, Erica hardly ever acknowledged that Ben existed when he wasn't physically present. It upset Callie, but she was determined that they could get back to where they used to be when they were first together. She knew they would have issues to work through: Erica's priorities being one she considered especially important, work couldn't always come first. Another being that they didn't actually _share _anything; the house was Erica's, they each had their own vehicle, Ben was Callie's…Erica would just about do anything to avoid talk of marriage or more children. It was a lot, but Callie was damned sure she was going to try. If their relationship failed, it wouldn't be for lack of trying on her part. Sure, she was attracted to Arizona, but like it or not, she had made a commitment to Erica and felt that she owed it to both of them to make sure it wasn't salvageable. She partially blamed her Catholic upbringing for not wanting a second "divorce" of sorts, and after having a track record of being left she was glad that Erica was still sticking around. With all of those thoughts stewing in her mind she was glad that the next morning, Erica had said that she'd like to have more days with Ben.

A week slowly passed and Erica had gone out with Ben for at least half of every day. They'd make it home for dinner every night, and then Erica would usually go into work for the night. Neither of them talked about their time together and seemed to move around the house like zombies.

x-x

Arizona and Mark called every day to see if Ben would be home for the day. Teddy had taken to texting Callie strange questions and acting weird, Aria tried to convince Erica to let Ben spend some time with her or to at least agree to go over to the Arizona's for dinner with their custom made family, but had no luck.

Callie had started worrying herself at the current situation. Had she really just made a bigger mess of things? Benjamin would move around without any emotion and she couldn't remember the last time his dimples made an appearance, he'd still ask for Zona and Mark but didn't protest going with Erica. She'd heard from Aria that Arizona and Mark were grumpy and a little testy with her and Teddy since that hadn't been getting to see Ben. She had to admit that she missed their dinners and nights spent together and couldn't help but feel like _that _was what a family was supposed to feel like.

She curled up in bed that night, one week after her attempt to confront Erica, wondering if it was time to try to talk to Erica again and if it would be fair to go through with everything now that she and Ben were finally spending time together. She spent the night tossing and turning, as if physically wrestling with the pros and cons while her dreams were anything but peaceful.

x-x

A street over a blonde woman fell into a similar state of sleep after spending the day griping with Mark that their plans weren't going very well. Arizona hadn't seen Callie all week, Lexie was still refusing to speak to Mark, Addison and Derek had both yelled at him when he tried to talk to them, and they hadn't gotten to have any fun with Ben in far too long.

'_Before the war  
Before the lies  
Before my brother left that night yeah  
I was just a kid  
I was singing La la la la la la la la  
Shit was simple  
Just like la la la la la la la la'_

_The blonde running down the sidewalk rolled her eyes as she heard Tim's ringtone. She slowed her pace to answer, figuring it would probably be important because he had gone to the hospital, needing a clean bill of health before he could return to duty the next week. Leave it to Timothy to go to the ER complaining of chest pains instead of booking an appointment, she couldn't wait to hear the Colonel's lecture about him wasting resources that are supposed to be only for those in dire need and the potential consequences of said actions._

"_Hi, Timbers…long wait?"_

"_Zoner. You haven't been with an Erica have you?" _

_She dropped her head back and groaned "You called me because you want to hook up with someone while you're supposed to be getting checked out? And no…I don't think so, anyway."_

"_Focus. Tall? Blonde? Serious looking?"_

"_Mmmm…no, doesn't ring any bells. Is it really something that couldn't have waited?"_

"_She's a doctor. And gay. Totally playing hard to get but I've so got this one." It was no secret that the Robbins twins were going through a reckless stage and having a bit of a competition of who could "score the most chicks that swing the opposite way" it was a bit horrible and wrong in more ways than one, but any advice to stop fell on deaf ears. _

"_Bye Thing 1." "Bye Thing 2. I've so got this one!"_

Arizona shot up in bed wide eyed and breathing heavily with her heart beating out of her chest. _**Erica?! **__It must just be a coincidence…or a bad dream, she had hit her head on a beam earlier this week…They usually had a pretty high success rate with their 'game'…_Her heart felt like it was being pulled down into the depths to rest with her namesake, the USS Arizona. _He wouldn't have. He would have told me if he…no, Callie said that Benjamin was hers…he had the same temper and a slightly darker complexion…yeh…there was no way…just no way it could be what she was thinking…_


	9. Falling

A day had finally come where they hadn't received a text saying that Ben wasn't available and Arizona and Mark were positively giddy. It was enough for Arizona's bad dream to slip her mind and Mark was almost as perky as Arizona, which she found to be slightly unsettling and promptly sent him for a coffee and donut run in an attempt to distract him, promising she would run over to get Ben as soon as it was a more reasonable hour. Even though they both wanted to run over as soon as they woke up, they had agreed that showing up at 6am _might _wear their welcome with the Torres sisters a little thin and invited Teddy over for breakfast in return for her keeping them in the house until a more appropriate hour of the morning.

x-x

Arizona made her way over to Callie's house as soon as Teddy let her. During breakfast, her and Mark had decided to work on the basement today and were excited to tell Ben about the home theatre they had planned and take him to help test out furniture. Sometimes she almost forgot that it was actually _her _house and not Mark's too. She laughed at the fact that her and Mark had basically been living together without realizing it and skipped up to the door to knock and slid her hands in her back pockets as she rocked on her heels and waited.

When the door opened it felt like someone sucked all the air out of her. Calliope was standing there in a pencil skirt that did an awesome job of showing off her fantastic legs, a red blouse that showed off cleavage she felt like she could get lost in and a sexy blazer to top it all off. She eventually moved her eyes upwards and saw slightly wavy, dark hair perfectly framing that beautiful face…and that amused smirk…_busted_.

Arizona closed her eyes and gulped before opening them again "I, uh…I…Ben…" she cleared her throat "Can I borrow Ben for the day? You look…awesome, by the way" She made eye contact and wore a sheepish smile.

Callie grinned and chuckled at how cute Arizona was being and offered a sad smile "Sorry, I forgot to text you guys, Ben's with Erica again today, you just missed them by about 10 minutes…"

"Oh." Her smile dropped before she forced it back to not show how disappointed she was that they wouldn't get to hang out today, it was a slight consolation that Mark would be disappointed too. She wasn't turning soft, if he loved the little boy too, right? She shrugged "What about Aria?"

Callie couldn't help but be more attracted to Arizona even more when she saw the genuine disappointment show that she wouldn't be able to spend the day with Ben, and was still willing to hang out with her sister "Now, her, I can give you" She smiled and yelled back into the house for Aria before making her way outside "Sorry, I gotta go or I'm going to be late, but Aria has a key to lock up so just help yourself to whatever…but, before I go…uhm, I was going to send Ben over to hang with you guys tomorrow, if that's okay…from what I've heard from Teddy and Aria it would probably be good for all of you"

Arizona's dimples appeared at the proposal and jumped to give Callie a huge hug before controlling herself "Okay…I mean yes. That would be super…_super! _And thank you…have a good day, Calliope"

They stood smiling at each other until Aria came down and broke the moment. Callie grabbed the rest of her things while Arizona and Aria started to talk about their plans for the day.

"Bye guys…"

x-x

"So…the loft, eh?" Aria broke the silence on the walk

"Yeh…we were going to work on the basement and theatre room because we thought we'd get Benjamin today, but," she shrugged "it can wait, Calliope said he can come over tomorrow"

Aria watched Arizona as she spoke, her eyes would always light up when even she mentioned Callie or Ben. Apparently Teddy had noticed it as well, now they just had to wait for the Callie/Erica thing to work out and to Arizona deal with her issues regarding relationships. "Cool. What's going up there again?" She often had a hard time keeping up with Zona and Mark's plans; they were like overgrown kids when they got excited about something. They never hesitated to retell their plans when she asked though, and it often resulted in them thinking of something else they wanted to add…they'd probably still be working on this house for the rest of their lives.

x-x

Robbins and Sloan were noticeably happier knowing for sure that they would get time with Ben tomorrow. They were fooling around and playfully bickering even more than normal and had climbed up onto the beams in the loft to reinsulate before they started any of the other work. Their good moods, typical arrogance and light hearted cockiness had led them to running across, swinging around and hanging from the old wooden beams. Both of them were in great shape and had no problem moving and hoisting themselves around across the beams and catching the supplies that Aria would hurl up to them. Aria was convinced they were going to fall while they were goofing around at least 8ft away from the ground but it did make for some great pictures, and she knew any protests wouldn't even be acknowledged.

Aria had just tossed up the rope so they could heave a bucket of supplies up; she may have looked the other way at them pretending to be monkeys, but even she had to draw a line somewhere and she drew that line at throwing nails and hammers. She had just loaded up the bucket and was reaching for her phone again when she heard two girly shrieks followed by a small thump. "Guys, what the – " She looked up to see two figures waving their arms as they started to fall off the beam. Her eyes widened and she tried to think of what she could do…in typical Aria fashion she reasoned that there wasn't really much she could do, so she quickly made sure there weren't any big or sharp objects underneath them and decided she would make sure there was plenty of photographic evidence of what she was sure would be a great story to tease the pair about later.

Sure enough, she watched as Mark lost his balance first, seconds before Zona and heard the telltale THUD THUD and their moaning and groaning as they laid sprawled out on the floor where they fell. They looked at each other and tried to gauge if that had actually just happened. Aria stepped over to check them out and get a closer look. She poked and prodded while observing while they winced and hissed through the pain. Her eyes widened and she braced herself for the headache she was surely going to get dealing with this… "Uh…guys…" They both turned their heads to look at her "I'm pretty sure _you" _she gestured to Mark "broke your right arm…and _you" _she turned to Arizona "somehow managed to break the opposite arm…" As predicted their complaining began and they both started talking at the same time.

Aria took a deep breath and released it "Alright **kids**, whoever goes to the hospital gets ice cream" That stopped them as they both turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

x-x

Getting them to the hospital turned out to be the easiest feat, Aria's real challenge would be getting them to not sit there and be miserable grumps and to act more like mature adults instead of a pair of 5 year olds.

They sat in the waiting area pushing and nudging each other back and forth, each of them blaming the other for the fall and complaining about being bored while Aria tried to pretend she wasn't with them. Then they insisted they _had_ to get looked at together and _had _to get their xrays together, all while still bickering with each other and trying to get the nurses and doctors involved...which eventually led to them both sitting on the exam bed together now.

"Would you two just _please _try to play nice with the nurses and doctors?" She instantly regretted her words when she saw the lecherous grins stretch across their faces while their eyes shone with mischief.

"Ugh, forget it." She dropped her forehead against the table top beside the bed and decided to text Teddy and Callie so they knew what was happening.

Teddy called while Arizona and Mark were getting their casts, which of course they insisted needed to be light blue for Arizona and light green for Mark, Aria just shook her head at the doctor when he opened his mouth to question them. Teddy was still in the hospital and said she'd come down the meet them when she was done with her client.

x-x

Apparently news of the childishly charming pair and their antics spread through the hospital quickly through the gossipy nurses and even a couple of smitten residents. To one daycare worker the news of Arizona Robbins being in the hospital garnered a completely different reaction and she immediately found out who was currently taking care of her and asked if she could come to visit the kids.

The one and only Arizona Robbins was responsible for the amazing murals that covered the daycare's walls and the kids absolutely loved her books, she couldn't even imagine how happy they'd be if they could meet Arizona herself.

Arizona was a little shocked that not only did the daycare workers know she was in the hospital but actually remembered her and asked if she could go read one of her books to the kids. She mulled it over and eventually agreed, after all, it wasn't like she could do much else at the moment, and Mark had agreed/decided to come with her.

The dynamic duo climbed onto the elevator seemingly unnoticed and quietly stood off to the side while two surgeons on the other side were arguing over something. They soon learned that the elevator moved slower than a turtle stuck in molasses and resigned themselves to staring at the floor while the angry surgeons' argument continued to escalate.

SLAP! A hand shot out and stopped the elevator – yupp, they had definitely gone unnoticed – they stood as still as possible and practically stopped breathing, neither was in the mood to get caught in the middle of those two. That didn't stop them from listening though, they were both terribly nosey.

"HOW DOES THAT _**NOT**_ EFFECT THEM?! I'm telling you. You tell them, or I will."

"What he _doesn't know_ won't hurt him, _Doctor Yang! _And I would greatly appreciate it if you would stay out of my personal life!"

Their interest was definitely peaked, they originally thought it had been an argument over a patient but were now eager to know what had two surgeons, who kept their cool in some of the most stressful situations, to lose it like this. They could tell the shorter doctor, Yang was about to blow.

"How can it not?! How _dense_ can you possibly be! Does that massive ego of yours get in the way of you seeing everything else that happens in the world? He doesn't know he _has a child_! You never told him that you basically _used him_ for his baby juice,"

"What _I _did is . – "

"–so that you could knock up your girlfriend, who you _**constantly **_cheat on! Erica, I swear, I will tell – "

Now that had Arizona and Mark's head shooting up. _**Erica?!**_…_Callie's Erica? Does that mean they're arguing about Ben's Dad?_

"STILL NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, YANG! . ."

"No. I've put up with this for long enough. I've watched you avoid going home and sleep your way around the hospital for years. But that man is out serving his country, not knowing he has a child, that in all reality you stole from him – "

The colour drained from Arizona's face and she gulped. _The phone call…Tim asking if she'd slept with an Erica…it wasn't a dream…that means… _She started trembling and tried to keep breathing while Mark was looking at her curiously and confused and rubbing circles on her back until it finally clicked with him. _Holy shit. _...and the surgeons still remained oblivious.

Erica went to open her mouth to protest and Yang silenced her with a pointed glare and slapped the button to start the elevator again.

"You have a chance to try to make it right, Hahn. His sister is here so go talk to her. He should know, and you know it."

That was the nail in coffin confirming Arizona's suspicions "…what?!" she squeaked a little above a whisper and dry heaved.

Yang and Hahn both snapped their heads to her with furrowed brows "Who are you?" they said in unison.

"Arizona…Arizona Robbins…" she stared blankly ahead "I've been hanging out with my nephew…all that's left of Timothy…" she gulped and steeled her jaw and spun on her heels to face Erica when the elevator stopped and the doors opened to show a cheerless little blonde boy sitting with a few other kids, his sad expression instantly becoming a megawatt smile with dimples when he looked up to see who had just arrived and came funning full tilt to jump into the arms she extended for him.

"ZONAAAA!"

She could see it now…it was Calliope's megawatt smile with the Robbins' dimples…all the character traits she couldn't place with Callie but with herself suddenly made more sense…

* * *

**A/N: Heads up: the rest of the Tim/Erica story is next and you'll probably hate it. I hate it, and I wrote the thing. I even contemplated changing the story to just having Callie sleep with Tim because that was actually less weird/upsetting….and you guys didn't like Erica before…ha. ha. haa.**

**And of course, the disclaimers I have yet to put here: I don't own anything but the mistakes, the characters aren't mine, etc.**


	10. Sinking Ship

**A/N: Sad feels ahead. Some heartwarming feels too, though. Enjoy! And thanks for all the reviews, guys! You're all super awesome!**

* * *

Callie sat at her desk shuffling papers around and staring distractedly at her phone in hopes of a message back from Arizona, or to at least hear from Aria how she was doing.

Callie and Arizona had been texting back and forth since they had initially exchanged numbers and it had been happening more and more frequently the less time they got to hang out together. They never really talked about anything overly personal, most of their respective issues weren't something to be shared in a message, but they took the time to get to know one another, eagerly absorbing any bit of information about the other that they could. They'd ask how each other's days went and share summarized versions of any stories their day had given them and laugh or complain together depending on what the occasion called for. Arizona would give Callie messages to pass along to Ben and Callie would pass along pleasantries for Mark or check if her sister would be coming home. They were comfortable communicating back and forth like this; they had a nice, pretty, pink, happy little bubble. They didn't want to pop the bubble, it was safe in the bubble; real word issues didn't exist in the bubble, the bubble was good, the bubble was _really good_.

It had come to the point where the text to no-text ratio from Arizona would noticeably affect Calliope's mood when everything about the situation finally hit her and she realized, yet again, that things had to change. She couldn't keep doing this to Ben. She couldn't keep doing this to herself. She would be damned if she let this go on any longer, she had given Erica more than enough chances.

She grabbed her phone to call Erica when she noticed that she received a message while she was lost in thought.

Cal – won't be home tonight – have your sister come get Ben from the hospital in the waiting room or daycare depending on the time

If she hadn't been at the tipping point before she had certainly just been catapulted over the edge and into the chasm. Her blood boiled. There were so many things wrong with that message. She had begun to wonder if Erica taking Ben to the hospital was a common occurrence and the thought only served to make her even angrier, because it was entirely plausible, knowing Erica.

She called Erica with her jaw set and – not surprisingly – went straight to voicemail. It took a lot of self-control not to slam the phone against her desk and start speaking Spanish, she clenched and unclenched her muscles while waiting for the "beep".

"Home. Tonight. Not a question. _Me_ and _my son _will be packing our things whether or not you decide to show up. There's your warning."

She regretted not using her desk phone, she wanted to satisfaction of slamming the phone down instead of angrily tapping a screen. She squeezed the phone in her palm and closed her eyes trying to reign in her temper. She was still at work, and she sure as hell wasn't going to let anything screw up that part of her life too.

Her phone vibrated in her hand and she hoped it would be Erica saying she'd be coming home and they could properly discuss their separation, because there was no negotiation at this point. _A simple division of estate, _she thought coldly. Callie had a huge heart, but if you managed to cause this much damage, the offending tumour would be entirely removed, and that's what it felt like now, a tumour; manifesting inside of her and sucking part of her away, while on the outside everything seemed the same.

As she finally got to unlocking her phone and checking her messages her heart dropped. _Arizona and Mark are at the hospital. _She started grabbing her things to rush to the hospital, her mind running through all of the trouble the pair could have gotten into and all the different scenarios that could have led to them ending up there when her phone vibrated to let her know the next message had come through. _It's *only* a broken arm for each of them…you could have led with that Aria… _

Callie dropped back into her chair relieved that their injuries weren't life threatening. For a sliver of a minute she admitted to herself that she might have overreacted before waiting for Aria to further explain, but her body and mind were humming with excess energy and pent up emotions, she couldn't really help it.

She confirmed with Aria that they would indeed be okay and making sure they knew that all they needed to do was call if they needed her before letting her mind slip back to the Erica problem. Deciding that, aside from the tragic circumstances, the three of them being at the hospital could work out for the best: they were already there, they could pick up Ben and then get to spend time together. Surely that would make her little man a happy camper and help to cheer up Arizona and Mark…

Hey, you mind taking Benny to Zona's so I can talk to Erica tonight? Have a sleepover or w/e

No prob, he'll be ecstatic…so will the big kids…good luck xx

thanks. Erica said they're at the hospital, so I'm guessing the daycare is where he'll be

sure. you ok cal?

no. but I'm working on it. if you see Erica tell her I left a msg for her.

x-x

Mark, Erica and Christina gaped in shock as they watched Ben and Arizona.

Mark was having a hard time absorbing everything they had just found out, and wanted nothing more than to know what to do to be there for the two dimpled blondes who had recently made a home in his heart.

Christina really didn't want to be involved in anyone else's drama, especially not any more so than she already was. She couldn't contain the gasp when she was struck by just how similar the two blondes actually were though. Yet, as much as she wanted the gossip, she was definitely going to take the first opportunity she could to sneak out of that elevator; something everyone else seemed to be failing to do.

Erica's eyebrows shot up as she watched the two embrace, she honestly just wanted to grab the next flight out of state and be done with all of this. She didn't feel any jealously or resentment towards the other blonde woman for what she was witnessing, if anything she felt slightly relieved.

"…Zona?" Ben leaned backwards in her hold to look at her as his little head slightly tilted and his face scrunched up to study her. She seemed different. He'd briefly noticed the casts on Mark and Arizona but it didn't look like she had the boo-boo kind of sad.

She swallowed thickly and met his gaze, determined not to break down in front of anyone, especially not Benjamin "Yeh little man?"

"Don't be sad." He leaned back into her, hugging her and resting his head against the nook of her neck.

Her lip quivered and she held him tight. The elevator doors had begun to close again and someone had once again hit the button to stop the elevator.

"Wait – " The ever sensitive Christina burst as realization hit her... _"…all that's left of Timothy…" _

"Your brother died?" Her voice softened at the end, possibly because she was now the subject of three steely glares.

She watched as Arizona simply nodded and was morbidly curious as to how this twisted story was going to end. She really wanted to see someone kick Hahn's ass…and she'd never say it out loud, but she wanted a happy ending for the others that were involved in Hahn's sick little game.

Ben had been set back down when it became too much for Arizona's casted arm to continuing holding him. Between the two blonde women's glares it looked like fire and ice were going to consume the elevator, taking down anyone who dare get in the way.

Christina quickly decided that sticking around wasn't worth weathering the impending storm and hit the button for the elevator and cautiously moved forward. By natural reaction Mark and Ben followed, assuming they were all getting off now.

Arizona and Erica remained on opposite sides of the steel box, not so much as flinching. Erica wasn't going to admit to any wrong doing, and this wasn't a fight Arizona could walk away from. The still stood unblinking as the elevator doors began closing.

"Wait Ar'Zona!"

Sloan and Yang turned at the sound of the little voice, the colour disappearing from their faces as they saw the two angry blondes at a deadlock and the little flash of blonde slipping through the elevator doors before they could close.

Mark quickly launched himself to repeatedly poke the elevator button, praying that the doors it wasn't too late and the doors would open back up. "Dammit!" he growled and punched the wall.

x-x

"Look – " Erica slapped the button to stop the elevator once again.

Arizona looked down with wide eyes to the small boy clinging to her leg and then back up to Erica. Was she really going to do this with Ben right there?

"I don't like you, and you don't like me. Let's just get agree to disagree." _Apparently she was._

Arizona's body stiffened as she tried to keep what little cool she had left. She gently, yet firmly placed a hand on Ben's head over his ear with the other ear pressed against her leg, hoping that would be enough to keep him from hearing things that he shouldn't have to find out this way…or ever.

"Tell me. Tell me how it came to this." Her voice left no room for argument, almost daring Erica to see what would happen if she didn't.

x-x Around 4 years ago x-x

Erica had been paged down to the ER to do a consult on a soldier experiencing chest pain and was getting more and more irritated. Not only did she consider checking on 'simple chest pain' to be a waste of her time, she had heard from some of the nurses on the way down that this soldier didn't even seem to be suffering at all and the only trouble he was experiencing was which nurse he'd end up leaving with.

And to top it all off, she and Callie had been arguing about having children for two weeks now. Erica didn't want kids. She wasn't the mothering type, nor did she want to be. Her career was what was important to her, it was just who she was and that was what had initially drawn her to Callie; they both knew what they wanted, got it, and made a name for themselves in their respective fields. She didn't have to worry about explaining why she had to stay late or go to the hospital before the sun was up because Callie understood dedicating yourself to your work, and they looked good together, they were a power couple with beauty _and _brains, and Erica enjoyed being able to say that Callie was hers. Sure, she had known that Callie said she always wanted a family, but Erica thought that she'd either grow out of it or they'd no longer be together when the time came. Now Callie was ready for children, with or without her, and she wasn't ready to give Callie up yet.

So she stood leaning against the desk and stewing while she watched the soldier charm the nurses that seemed to gravitate towards him. Sure, she could see it…he was very good looking, those dimples would probably win over his intended target even if he didn't so much as utter a word or bat an eyelash, and he was clearly a smooth talker, therefor making him somewhat manipulative but by her reasoning, that also meant he was very smart and clearly knows what he wants and gets it. She could appreciate that.

The wheels were turning in her head as she made her way over to the soldier's bed. They exchanged pleasantries and in a move that was rather bold, she thought, he propositioned her to 'play doctor' and made some pretty hefty claims about his prowess.

She matched his confidence and flat out told him that he was the wrong gender for her and without missing a beat he had made a comment about mixing things up and being adventurous. He even admitted to only being in the ER to receive his doctors' note after having sustained some injuries a few months ago during training.

She didn't bother to kick him out as the ER was rather slow anyway. She rattled off all the typical medical history questions as she checked on his old injuries while he continued to hit on her. She had to admit that if guys were her thing she already would have caved. _'Hmmm…bold…confident…good looking…intelligent…no history of medical conditions in him or the family…' _she mused _'if Cal really wants this kid it is going to have to be smart as well as good looking…can't very well ask a stranger for a sperm donation though…' She sighed "Excuse me one moment, would you" and left before he got a chance to reply._

While Tim spent the time that Erica had stepped out calculating his game plan, he knew his confidence would likely go a long way with this woman. He cursed himself for being so stubborn and competitive when it came to this challenge with his sister; sure this doctor was good looking, but this was a lot of work for a one-time thing, and he sure as hell didn't want it to be more than that…the woman would make an excellent villain in any of his Arizona's Disney movies, or could have even been, he was sure of it. He snickered at the irony of her being a heart doctor without a heart and quickly called his sister to make sure that this wasn't one of her previous conquests (an unspoken rule they had made) and by the time came back in he would be ready to win her over.

Erica, meanwhile, had went to find Montgomery and discuss how it would work if her and Callie were to have a baby and tried to explain the scenario she had in her head without giving details.

She just said that she had an old close friend that would be in town for the next few hours and had said he would be willing to give them what they need and made up some excuse about him not wanting to be near hospitals or be around the couple for fear of getting attached to the child-to-be and that she wanted to surprise Callie; she even impressed herself with how the lies were so easily flowing.

Addison briefly explained what would need to happen, as well as the timeline, and handed Erica a cup and told her that she'd even clear her schedule if Erica wanted to bring Callie in today. She had heard of the baby drama through the hospital grapevine and was glad that Erica and her partner were working things out; if this "baby daddy" was only going to be in town today then she would do her best to help them accommodate that.

With a quick call to Callie reciting her made up spiel and saying that if she can get over to the hospital this afternoon that they could have a child, she made her way back to . She wasn't exactly surprised when he hit on her again before they even resumed his examination, but _he _was certainly surprised by _her_ response.

_This might be easier than she thought. _She narrowed her eyes and looked up from her clipboard "Tell you what, soldier. You cum in this cup…" she pulled the cup Addison had given her from the pocket of her lab coat and tossed it to the young man "and we can go on that date, or…whatever it was that you were suggesting" She hadn't really been paying all that much attention to anything she deemed irrelevant.

Timothy grinned, knowing he had won this one "A cup and a date? Where's the fun in that, _Doctor?_" His eyes twinkled with mirth as he toyed with the cup "How about a date with you, me and this cup in a private room here?" He wasn't entirely sure where the cup came into play, but assumed it was some sort of weird doctor/patient kink and he wasn't about to say no at this point. He still had no intention of seeing this woman outside of the hospital.

She narrowed her eyes at him before quickly scanning the area to make sure no one was watching and grabbed the man by his hand to drag him to an on call room. She figured if fooling around with this guy for 10 minutes was all it took to keep Callie then she'd do it, she'd just picture him being one of the ortho nurses instead.

"We do this by my rules…" She quickly shoved him inside of the room and got to work. Little did she realize that there had been not one, but two sets of eyes suspiciously tracking her and the soldier's movements from the ER to the on call room.

It was over and done in no time. Erica had been with men before and knew what she needed to do to get what she wanted, she tried to show some consideration for Tim but he still left the room grumbling. He was certainly expecting more from the encounter.

He left the hospital with his doctor's note in one hand and his phone in the other, calling his sister to complain about the lame time he'd had at the hospital.

Callie passed through the entrance going into the hospital as Tim was heading out, briefly acknowledging each other's existence in passing.

That afternoon, despite the odds of Erica's ridiculous plan backfiring, they had started what was supposed to be their family.

Their meeting with Addison went well in spite of the lack of planning beforehand and before they knew it they had several positive pregnancy tests lined up on their bathroom counter.

x-x

Arizona's vision blurred as she gulped, as if she could somehow swallow the irreparable damage and make it disappear. _Timothy had died a year and a half after that…he never got to come back…he didn't know he… _She couldn't bear to think about it. Her body started trembling enough to cause Ben to look up at her and she could have sworn she saw a fleeting moment of panic on Erica's face.

"…how could you? All this time…" it barely came out as a whisper

"He flirted with anyone with breasts. He didn't exactly scream of someone – "

"Don't."

Erica shrugged "I got what I wanted. He got what he wanted. There's no – "

"**Don't.**"

"He wasn't – "

"_You _do **not **get to talk about Timothy. You don't know a damn thing about him! He was a great man, **a **_**great **_man, and don't you dare say otherwise."

Erica narrowed her eyes and hit the button for the elevator to resume its journey again, wisely choosing not to say anything. Only a curt nod of her head and brief acknowledgement of Arizona's parting words offered before leaving the suffocating box.

"He was a good man in a storm…a _great _man in a storm…you…you can't even see past the raindrops on your own eyelashes…"

Arizona just stood there, little Ben still attached to her leg and being patient and understanding beyond his years.

Erica was gone. Just nodded and left after dropping a bomb…and all Arizona could think of was her Grandfather on the USS Arizona, saving all those men after bomb dropped…Timothy doing the same on his own metaphorical ship, doing his best to save everyone he could…and Erica Hahn, sealing the hatches, sealing in those she's supposed to protect the most, effectively trapping them as her ship went down. _Now it was up to her._


	11. Standing Tall

**Now featuring chunks of conversations that actually happened! Mangled, of course. But bonus points to you if you can pick them out!**

* * *

It was like an air of realization breezed through the floors of SGMW. Two heads snapped up to look at each other and in an instant Mark took off towards the staircase and Cristina ran off to grab her twisted sister.

Cristina rushed to Meredith's side, not stopping, but simply grabbing her by the crook of the elbow and dragging her to the stairs "Okay! Don't worry about me getting to that surgery or anything…"

"This is more important."

Meredith tried to stop as her face screwed up in confusion.

"You're Cristina "I'd rip your face off if it meant I could scrub in" Yang…what's more important than surgery?"

"Robbins is here."

"Baby Daddy is here?!"

"Girl Robbins…she's in the elevator with McBitchFace right now and – "

"Oh my God!"

"…**with **Robbins Jr. Boy Robbins died serving. She heard us in the elevator arguing over spilling the beans before we knew who she was…or that she was right there"

"NO WAY!" Meredith took off running with Cristina in tow.

x-x

Mark was tearing down the steps, jumping as many as he figured he safely could when Aria spotted him on her way up.

"Kids are that scary to a manwhore, huh? Great news! Cal's giving us – "

Mark stepped around her and continued on, yelling gruffly over his shoulder.

"Don't have time…Zona's in the elevator with Erica…Ben's Dad is Zona's dead brother…"

"Wait…**what?!**"

Aria spun on her heels and flew after him, Cristina and Meredith barrelling down the stairs after her.

x-x

Everything seemed to stop as the four of them came tearing out of the stairway towards the elevator. They stood impatiently waiting for the doors to open to be greeted by Hahn breezing past them and a shell shocked blonde standing with a confused little boy clinging to her.

Mark and Aria started asking questions at the same time while Arizona simply ignored them to whisper something in Ben's ear, making sure he got off the elevator and ran after Erica, stopping her before she left the hospital.

"Hey! You don't get to just leave!"

"I can do whatever I damn well please."

"As if you haven't already proven that point abundantly clear." Arizona sneered

"Look – I don't owe you anything."

"_I know that. _You _do _owe something to my brother, and Calliope! You – "

"Calliope?! Who the hell are you to be calling my – "

Arizona's face was becoming increasingly red as her nostrils flared and her eyebrows shot up with her arms.

"_**That **_is what you take from all this?! Really? Of everything that just happened…that…I can't…you…eughhh"

"Fine. He should have known. Happy? It isn't like knowing would have changed anything. He still wouldn't be here. You have your weird little nephew so just drop it."

Arizona's jaw set and her chest heaved. Her fists clenched and if looks could kill, Erica would have been struck down in an instant. Mark stepped in as Arizona was getting ready to lunge; as much as he wanted Erica to get what was coming, he didn't want his best friend to get in trouble.

"No. You don't get to talk about him like that…you don't get to talk about him at all. You know what really gets me? _You don't even appreciate what you have – "_

"I. NEVER. WANTED. KIDS. So you want what I have? Callie and Ben? Take them. I can't deal with them anymore. I can't believe this…"

"Can't believe **what**? That you _fucked up_? That you took advantage of **a good guy? That you don't appreciate the AMAZING woman that you have to come home to every night? Or that you have a BRILLIANT and absolutely PERFECT little boy? **What? What is it that you can't believe Erica?! Please tell me, because I can't see what the problem seems to be, other than _you._"

Erica closed the distance between the two, effectively butting Mark out as Arizona stepped forward to match her aggression. The crowd that gathered watched as the blondes stood toe to toe, one's anger matching the other's bitterness. They gasped as Erica's finger jabbed into Arizona.

"_YOU _don't get to have an opinion in this. You know NOTHING – "

"_I_ know – "

"NOTHING!" Another jab. "Callie isn't even gay!" Her voice was rasping with emotion "You can't _kind of be _a lesbian_! _And _the kid,_ isn't anything special!" She threw her hands up in exasperation "You just need to bond with him" She threw out in a mocking tone. "_How_ am I supposed to bond with a kid that can't grasp basic scientific concepts? or simple math?!"

"He's THREE YEARS OLD! If you _actually _spent time with him you would know how brilliant he is, wise beyond his years and – "

"I'm GLAD he's Callie's! I thought it could be different, but it can't. There's no grey area here. There's right and there's wrong, and they're wrong for me -"

Mark tried to pull Arizona back but she stood her ground. Under different circumstances he would be impressed by how strong the woman was, he knew she was tough, but he still thought that he'd be the strongman out of them.

"Oh! Really? **YOU'RE **talking about right and wrong?!"

"-she's too emotional and he's not my son. You know what…" She shook her head "I'm outta here, this is just crap." And with that she left. Everyone watching as she just strode out of the hospital with an air of indifference.

"They're better off without you."

No one dared to move. The anger rolling off of Arizona was palpable, Ben was squeezing his Aunt's hand…he knew what Erica thought of him, but it still hurt to hear. Everyone else stood in shock.

Meredith leaned towards Cristina with her eyes still trained ahead, slightly narrowed in thought as she whispered to her best friend "She isn't crying…"

Cristina lifted an eyebrow "She isn't."

"Shouldn't she be? I'd be falling apart…screaming…plotting revenge…something…"

Both of their heads tilted as they studied her. Cristina's arms crossed "Blondie's badass."

"She is." Meredith's arms followed as her head bobbled back and forth in contemplation "Really badass. She just ran off the devil herself."

Cristina calmly walked over to Arizona and stuck out her hand "Cristina Yang…that was ballsy."

"Excuse me?"

"That was ballsy. Badass. I like you."

"Uhm, sorry? I just ran off one of your surgeons…"

Yang's head tilted once again. With arms crossed she studied Arizona for what was probably too long as Arizona mirrored her expression and waited. _What a weird hospital._

Cristina nodded resolutely. "I'm gonna hug you."

Arizona stood there bewildered as 's arms wrapped around her and Meredith took pity on her.

"What she means is…thank you. We've been waiting a long time for someone to tell Hahn off. That was impressive. I can't say I would have had that much…control…Meredith Grey…" She extended her hand as Cristina pulled back with an incredulous look.

"Impressive? That's it? The best you could come up with? Impressive?! Blondie just told off McBitchFace standing her like a statue of McGodliness! She didn't even stutter! Anyone else here would have been hysterically crying, or reaching for a scalpel – _or,or…_" her eyes widened "grabbed the nearest blunt object and gone all Mortal Combat on the – "

"Okay, Cristina, we get it." Meredith rolled her eyes even though she had the same thoughts.

"…McBitchFace?" For the first time since Cristina, and most of the spectators, had seen Arizona a genuine smile appeared.


	12. The Selfish and The Selfless

Callie had finally hit her limit. Since their talk Erica hadn't really changed, She's almost positive that Erica isn't actually spending time with Ben…she believed it at first, but they haven't been any closer and there's no way she's finding free time every single day just to spend time with him. That just wasn't something Erica would or _could _do; she was a surgeon, it wasn't like paperwork she could catch up when there was time available, people depended on her, and Callie understood that. That wasn't really the problem; it was Erica's need to go above and beyond, to be constantly involved and her _constantly _being at work…not just having to miss a few holidays, leave in the middle of a family outing or in the middle of dinner…but just not being around to have to leave in the first place. Erica seemed to _always _be at the hospital. After their "talk" they had started to have dinners together but didn't talk, and then Erica would be gone again.

She missed hanging out at Arizona's with her new friends…Hell, she missed hanging out with _any _friends, but she wouldn't deny that she'd prefer the company of Arizona and crew. She knew Ben missed them too and it was killing her that her little boy wasn't as happy as he had been before.

Seeing Erica run out the door with Ben this morning without letting him have breakfast was the final straw. It was one thing when she had to deal with Erica's neglect, but she couldn't keep putting her son through this. Even if it meant living in a hotel until the found somewhere else, tonight would be the night. There would be no more "Callie and Erica".

Driving down her street, finally on the way home from work, Callie was surprised to see Erica's car already in the driveway. _Maybe she had listened to the message and realized it was serious. _Callie had honestly expected it to be a fight…Erica would be defiant, denying anything was wrong and ignore the situation, leaving it for Callie to deal with…but this wasn't something Callie _could _do alone. It takes two to make a relationship and two to break it. If Erica really wanted to ignore the situation Callie could take care of everything, but it would be a lot easier, and likely less stressful, if her and Erica could just talk it out like adults and come to an agreement.

She walked in the door and scanned through the house trying to find Erica. "Erica? I'm home…"

No answer.

She kept looking, walking up to their bedroom to find Erica packing her suitcase. She stilled in the doorway and put her hands on her hips, going ignored as Erica continued to pack in silence without so much as an acknowledging glance.

"That's it? You're just going to leave…You don't think now would be a perfect time to say something?"

Anger flashed through the blonde's eyes "Unbelievable!" She threw the clothes she was holding down to the bed "It was only twenty minutes ago! If those people spent as much time working as they did spreading gossip…just – what do you want from me?"

"Excuse me?" She narrowed her eyes and became more defensive "Did you not listen to my message?"

"I don't have time for this _Calliope_" She hissed the name out "I'm sure I have nothing to add to what you already heard – "

"Listen to the message."

"I don't – "

"Listen. To. The. Message."

"Look – I'm sure that listening to you yell at me on a voice recording and tell me how horrible I am – "

"For fuck's sake, just listen to the goddamn message, Erica!"

" – for not telling you about Ben's _sperm donor. _But it is not my fault that it happened to be the dead brother of your _new girlfriend, _nor is it my concern that he didn't know. So you want me to listen to the message so you can witness it? Fine!"

Callie stood there in shock. She was almost certain her stomach might actually be tying itself in a knot. Erica moodily tapped away at her phone to listen to the message, unaware that she had just opened a whole other can of worms.

The sound of Callie's voice, slightly distorted by the speaker filled the room. _"Home. Tonight. Not a question. Me and my son will be packing our things whether or not you decide to show up. There's your warning."_

'_Shit. She that was left before…everything happened.' _Erica thought as she inwardly cursed.

"Cal?"

"Ben es un Robbins? Nunca pensé que me diga esto! Just…just…eughhh! Erica I can't believe this! Esto es bajo, incluso para ti. ¿Cómo? ¿Cuándo? Cómo Erica?! Esto es enorme! Arizona…Ben…The dimples…I just…How Erica?" It started out as blind anger and came out as desperate plead for the truth.

Erica just rolled her eyes.

"... espera ... el hospital ... el otoño ... los brazos rotos ..." She gasped "ella lo sabe! es lo que sabe? oh mi dios ... ella está bien? No puedo ni imaginar ... dios Erica! Por favor, dime que le dijo suavemente!"

Erica gestured her arms as if to say "well?"

Callie took a deep breath to get through this, get the answers she needs and say what she has to say – in English.

"The hospital…she knows doesn't she?"

Erica nodded.

"And Benjamin?"

Erica began to open her mouth and then closed it again and just shrugged. Callie's eyes widened and she stepped forward with fists balled up at her sides.

"You don't know, Erica? You didn't think to make sure he wasn't around for that discussion? It didn't cross your mind as something that should be discussed _before _Ben heard?!"

"…he was there. And it wouldn't hurt him to grow up. Robbins covered his ears anyway."

The way her voice sounded as she spoke of Ben or Arizona was enough to make Callie indescribably angry.

"Tell me what happened, Erica."

"I'm sure Robbins will tell you. I'm leaving; you don't want me here anymore than I do."

"…I'm sure she will, but I'm going to hear your side."

"Why is _this _what you care about? Was it really that easy to go out and find someone else? Blonde hair and blue eyes too, of course." There was something about the way she said it, her ego shining through again, "I basically told you the I cheated and pretty much stole the sperm…from a stranger, no less…to give you a child, and all you're worried about is your precious Robbins? And of course, your delicate little boy. I see where our relationship stands, Cal." She bit out

Callie held herself back from physically attacking Erica and let out a humourless laugh "_Our. Relationship. _Really? Well, here's the thing, _Erica: _There are far more important things than that going on right now. Do you even realize how many lives you flipped on their head today?" She threw her hands up in the air to try to release her anger and make a point. "Ben probably now knows that he has a man that helped give him life that he'll never get to know. He's not old enough to deal with that, Erica. He _shouldn't _have to deal with that. Arizona just found out that the boy she's been spending time with is _her nephew; _her **dead **brother's child…that's the only living part of him left! And me, we were _supposed _to be partners, Erica, and I come home to find out that you were…what? Just going to pack your bags and leave? Were you even going to tell me about _any _of this?!"

Erica just huffed and resumed packing. "Oh, right, ignoring's your thing…" Still packing. "Tell me what happened." Still packing; Callie grabbed the items out of her hands and tossed them on the floor.

"She was in the elevator! Yang had no right confronting me about my private life in the first place. Robbins was in the elevator with some guy, I have no idea why. That's how she found out."

"…What? You didn't even tell her? Explain? Do I even want to want to know? How did Ben find out?"

"I don't have to explain anything. It's the past; done and over with. Ben ran into the elevator on the way back down the lobby. The whole hospital knows, do you know how embarrassing that is."

Callie's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, oh. Do I know how embarrassing that is?" She shook her head incredulously and schooled her features as she looked Erica in the eye "A _whole hospital _apparently knows more about my life than I do! A hospital full of people I don't even know! And they know that the woman I've been with for almost 7 years pretty much stole sperm…yupp, _stole sperm, _lied to me about everything and apparently cheated on me. I'm not even sure I even want to know what else you haven't told me."

Erica just gave her a final glance and pushed past her and swiftly made her way out of the house. Callie just stood there lost in thought. _How many lies had she been told? _

Tears fell from her eyes and she leaned back against the wall and slid down to the ground. With her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms serving as a place to bury her head a strangled sob finally made its great escape. _How had her life come to this?_


	13. Like SpiderMan

The crowd at the hospital eventually dispersed with a little help from Cristina and Mark. Arizona stood there, appearing completely sane and calm, although she could swear that any visual representation of her feelings would give Escher's work a run for its money.

Luckily for her, her emotions cancelled each other out for the time being; she wasn't crying because of her nearly blinding anger, she wasn't caught up in grief for Tim because she was too concerned for Ben, and she wasn't worrying about herself because her remaining thoughts were on Callie and what was to come of all…_this_.

She realized that she was still subconsciously tensing her muscles and relaxed them a little as Ben caught her eye with his arms held above his head in her direction. She gave him the best smile she could and scooped him up.

"Fank you Zona" he kissed her cheek and her will to not cry instantly dropped, she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to hold it together

"For what, Little Man?"

"Being nice…" he changed his mind and looked her in the eye with a big grin "For being _awesome._"

She laughed and gave him a big hug "Well you must be wearing off on me then, Benjamin"

He hugged her back and they both turned to look at Aria, who cleared her throat. She really didn't want to interrupt, but she knew it would be better for everyone if they were at home instead of hanging around the hospital's lobby.

She grabbed Mark and dragged him over to close the distance between the four of them and tried her best to keep her emotions in check.

"Good news, Benny. Your Mami texted me earlier and said you could have a sleepover with these two goofballs." She gestured to Arizona and Mark.

She realized she should have that sooner when small smiles and pained looks instantly turned into three amazingly bright smiles and a chorus of "Really?"

She chuckled and nodded her head "Come on, let's get home."

She looked around and finally made eye contact with Teddy, who was looking for them amongst everyone heading back to their jobs, and signalled her over, glad they wouldn't have to wait any longer to get out of there.

The five of them started towards the parking lot a bit brighter. Benjamin was still in Arizona's arms, her casted arm was killing her, but she didn't think she would be able to deal with not holding him right now, so she pushed through.

Aria was a bit stunned with everything she had just learned and in awe and amazement that Arizona was holding it together so well. Between her and her sister, she wasn't used to people who bottled up their emotions and kept calm during stressful situations – they just let it all out.

Mark was worried though, he knew that Arizona was silently stewing over everything and repressing instead of dealing with it and processing through her feelings. He knew now wasn't the time though and would make sure to confront her at a better time and be there when she needed him; he was no stranger to wanting to bottle up insecurities and issues and not want to talk about them.

And Teddy, Teddy knew exactly what was going to happen. Arizona was either going to shut down or run; she was fine now, while it was fresh and everyone was still around, but Teddy knew what to look out for in the next few days. The problem was that she didn't know what it would take to fix this…it was the one thing that Arizona never fully recovered from, Tim's death. It was tearing open old wounds and exposing raw nerves; opening them to infection and disease. It was no longer _just _dealing with the death of her twin and best friend, but having a web of confusion and conflict weaved in front of the antiseptic, because now the adorable little boy she had fallen in love with and the woman she had been crushing on were involved.

"Can I get my stuffed turtle for the sleepover?"

It was an innocent question, but Arizona turned to Aria for support. She didn't know if Erica would have gone home…or if Callie would be there, and she didn't want to run into Erica or be the one to tell Callie, or have to painfully avoid talking about it, if she didn't know yet…or end up walking in while she was finding out.

Aria seemed to read her mind and shrugged, still looking a bit hesitant.

"I think that would be okay, Little Man. Do you want me to take you?"

She knew she wouldn't be able to find what he wanted on her own – and she knew he'd end up packing a bag and not just grabbing his turtle – but she thought she might be able to spare Arizona from the possibility of running into Erica or Callie. She knew Callie wouldn't be a huge problem, but they had obviously been crushing on each other and this recent revelation definitely complicated things.

Ben tried to get closer to Arizona and shook his head, sinking into her "Want Ar'Zona."

Aria looked to Arizona who silently nodded while she gave Ben a little squeeze. She didn't want to go; she'd almost give anything to just disappear or run, far and fast, away from all of this. But she couldn't. She wouldn't. It was time to stop running, even if the thought just made her want to split even more.

Being there for Ben mattered more though. She couldn't do anything to bring Tim back, but she could be there for Ben – so that's what she would do.

x-x

They arrived back at Arizona's home and Arizona and Ben set out to Ben's place so they could get his things.

Arizona originally had the thought of waiting until later but Aria had quietly confided that Callie had planned on talking to Erica that night and going earlier might be better as Callie might not even be home from work yet.

'_Well there goes that hope' _Arizona bitterly mused as she spotted a fuming Erica coming from the door while her and Ben came from the backyard after taking a shortcut to get there.

She protectively placed an arm in front of Ben, hoping that they might be able to go unnoticed and wait until she left, because it was clear when she left she wasn't going to be coming back any time soon.

No luck. Ben kept moving, oblivious to the scene, just concentrating on remembering to grab his favourite toys.

Erica sneered. She'd basically lost everything here, why hold back now?

"What? Couldn't keep it on your pants until I was completely gone? Had to rush over to your _whore _as soon as you could"

"…Erica – "

"No, Robbins. It's to you" She sneered "Not everyone will just throw themselves at you like _Calliope._ People who want to address me by _my_ first name have to _earn it._"

Just like that, it was too much for Arizona. Screw being a good man in a storm; she also protected the things she loved, and she couldn't just stand around and take this anymore, consequences be damned. She put Ben's little hands in hers and covered his ears, holding them there.

She turned to Erica with a smirk, inwardly startled by how much closer she had gotten, she narrowed her eyes in defiance "Oh, I _did _earn it."

"Do you make it a habit to steal girlfriends? Or do you just aim to steal families?"

"I can't help it if I'm better than the competition. I didn't have to _steal _anything."

Erica was just becoming angrier and she wanted Arizona to be just as angry, not be able to keep her cool. She tried her best to nonchalantly shrug – she really hated losing.

"You can have her. She'll probably end up leaving you for a man anyway; she cheated on me with a man when we first got together."

"Is that supposed to be my insecurity, or yours? Because I know that _I'd _do enough to keep her around with _just. me. _–"

SLAP! Arizona didn't even see it coming and Ben looked up in horror.

"– I'd be the _best_ I could be, because Callie deserves nothing **but **the best!"

Now Erica could hear the anger.

"Yeh? What about when she decides that her best is with someone else and takes _your _nephew away?"

She was aiming for buttons to press and feeling more victorious every time Arizona's face passed another shade of red.

"…she isn't a heartless bitch like you. She isn't a _coward _either, she'd face _her_ problems. She's beautiful –inside and out – and she has such a big heart, I honestly don't know how –"

SLAP! That time even Erica hadn't realized that her hand flew up, but Arizona's hand flew up just as quick as soon as Erica's hand landed on her cheek.

Erica landed a punch to Arizona's ribs before she realized this was quickly becoming the type of fight she wouldn't win and didn't even want to have. She planned to add that final piece of straw to the camel's back and then dash.

"She'll leave. She's just in love with the _idea _of being in love. She'll leave and you'll be left, still with _no girl. No nephew. No brother."_

Arizona became a ball of tension, winding further with every syllable. She firmly sent Ben in the direction of the front door and before she knew it she felt Erica's face beneath her fist, and watched in slow motion as the other blonde was sent falling back against her car.

She was done. She wouldn't indulge her any further.

She made her way to Ben so they could go collect his things.

"**Goodbye** _ ._"

x-x

Arizona slid down the door as soon it was closed and held Ben nice and close. "I'm sorry, Sunshine…"

He placed a little hand on each of her cheeks and took in the tears in her eyes that were starting to fall and the redness where she had been slapped "I wanted to hit 'rica too…she didn't hit Mami did she?"

It broke her heart to see the tears in his eyes and hear the vulnerability in his voice. He was so strong, and he shouldn't have to be, not like this, it broke her heart even more.

"I hope not, buddy. I hope not" She said quietly while wiping his tears "Why don't you go get your stuff and we can go have some fun?"

He nodded and started towards his room while she collected herself and looked for signs of Callie, her car was in the driveway, so she hoped she was here and safe. "Calliope?"

Nothing.

"Calliope?" She made her way upstairs.

"Callie?"

She looked in at Ben in his room; he was engrossed in finding his things so she made her way to the master bedroom and slowly peeked her head in.

"Calliope?"

She finally spotted the Latina, curled up on the floor against the wall; brown eyes filled with tears looked up to meet her blue eyes.

"Ari-Arizona?" She hiccupped.

Arizona didn't know how much more of this she could take; how could one woman cause this much damage? McBitchFace was the nicest name she could think of for _her _right now.

"Oh, Calliope…"

She slid down next to Callie and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her in close. Callie sobbed against her shoulder, she was sad and angry and devastated and so, so confused, but with Arizona's arms around her she almost felt relaxed.

"I d-don't want to b-be-be here anymo-more." She choked out.

"Then we'll fix that." Arizona stated with a determined nod, standing back up and helping Callie up as Ben got to the threshold of the room.

"Pack some stuff up and come back with us." She softly said, she didn't want to demand anything, but she knew she wouldn't leave Callie here alone.

Ben chimed in "Mami's gonna seepover too?!"

Callie and Arizona both smiled at that, there wasn't much that little boy couldn't make better. Callie simply nodded – she wasn't in the mood to argue and she really didn't want to be in this house anymore.

Arizona kept Ben distracted while Calliope packed up the things she wanted and threw them in a bag. Arizona took Ben to his room and asked him to grab anything that he wouldn't want to be without if he were gone a really long time.

She didn't want to explain anything to him right now but she had a feeling that Erica probably wouldn't keep the house for long and didn't seem like the type to spare anyone else's feelings by worrying about sentimental objects or personal belongings. She figured after watching Callie pack for a few minutes that she had been thinking the same – whether it was a conscious realization or not.

Ben was noticeably happier when they had a duffle bag crammed full of all his favourite clothes and toys. He came running back to Callie, excited to be going to back to Arizona's.

"Mami! Mami! You should have seed it, 'rica was being mean and Ar'Zona was being awesome and –"

Arizona's eyes widened "Whoa, Ben, I don't think –"

"– and 'rica said – " Arizona tried to put a hand over his mouth to stop him, but he kept going and moved around her hand "– Ar'Zona sticked up for **both **of us Mami! Like movies! Like 'piderMan getting–"

"Whooooa-kay" Arizona tried to tickle him to get him to lose his train of thought

"– hit instead to keep MJ safe!" He said between giggles.

'_Well, at least now I know where he gets all that stubbornness from' _she mused.

Callie raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow "…did he just say _hit?_"

"Who knows what he said," Arizona grinned sheepishly "He's a little boy, they're full of trouble and silliness."

"Nu-uhhh, Zona, I said –"

Arizona dove to tickle him again and hoisted him up onto her hip.

"_He said _that we have to hurry and get home before Mark eats all the good donuts! _Right?" _She gave the little guy a pointed look.

"Right! C'mon Mami! Mark can eat all the donus all by himself!"

Callie narrowed her eyes at the pair. She knew there was more going on that what she knew, but she'd drop it for now.

"We can't have that now, can we? What about Auntie Aria and Teddy Bear?" She'd never forget when Ben finally told her about Arizona and Teddy's superhero personas from the first day he had met them.

He adamantly shook his head "Auntie Aria says no donus 'cause they make her butt big an' Teddy says they're sugary diss-as'ers…but still has some. But only a few. Me and Zona has to race Mark for the good ones." He beamed. He loved having all the good food with Arizona.

Arizona was once again on the receiving end of the raised eyebrow and a look that she knew meant she was going to be in trouble. She grinned, flashing Callie the dimples before spinning on her heals "Time to go! Gotta get to those donuts!"

She quickly made her way out with Ben and his bag.

"C'mon Calliopeeee" "C'mon Mamiiiii"

Callie shook her head and took a look around before grabbing her own things and making her way down to the blondes calling for her.

Maybe everything would be okay.


	14. Trophy Wife

They loaded up Callie's SUV with Callie and Ben's things and made the short trip over to Arizona's. Arizona grabbed the two main bags and went inside with the two Torres' to be greeted with the panicked and anxious faces of her friends that she had left – she checked the time – almost 2 hours ago…_'Shit, that would explain it.' _Mark finally broke the silence and gave Arizona a huge hug.

"Are you okay? You were gone a long time! We were worried about you Zona"

She gave him a small smile and he dropped his voice "Was _she _there?"

Arizona looked a little hesitant and nodded her head, and that's when Mark noticed the slight bruising starting to form on her face. "Oh my God! She did that!" Okay, that might have been a bit too loud; any attention that wasn't directed at them before was on them now.

Ben saw this as his perfect opportunity to tell his story and held his arms up in the direction of Mark and Arizona, knowing one of them would scoop him up.

Arizona beat Mark to it and settled him on her hip with her good arm and grinned towards Mark, happy with her victory, while Mark stuck his lip out in a little pout mumbling that it wasn't fair.

Ben kissed Arizona's sore cheek as gently as he could manage and turned to Mark.

"S'okay Mark, Zona winned!"

"She did, huh?" His eyebrow rose and a smirk spread across his face.

Arizona just groaned and rested her forehead against the top of Ben's head. She knew she had even more explaining to do now. Callie interjected before Ben could launch into his story again,

"Wait – Zona winned – " she shook her head, she was too busying worrying about what went on to realize that she was talking like her 3 year old son, "Arizona _won_ _what_?"

"Yeh, _Zona_, won what?" Teddy and Aria chipped in

"The fight." Ben stated as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"The fight? At the hospital? What do you mean Arizona won, Baby?"

Teddy was as curious as Callie about what was going on and Aria and Mark exchanged worried looks, knowing that the angry looking marks on Arizona's cheek weren't from the incident at the hospital.

"No, in the yard. 'rica's gone; Ar'Zona winned." He clearly thought his mother was a little slow on the subject.

"I know she's gone now, baby. But why does that mean Arizona _won_? What was there to win?" She muttered the last part more to herself but Ben still managed to catch it.

"Us." He beamed

"Us?!" Callie squeeked, unsure of what this meant, sure, she liked Arizona, but were her ex and her crush really fighting about who 'got them'? She wasn't sure how she felt about that; this day was just too long. She did notice that Arizona's head had suddenly shot up, so maybe there was more than what she was hearing – she didn't really have much time to think though, as Ben just kept on talking, ignoring the interruption, barely acknowledging it with a small nod.

"'rica was mean and angry but Zona was cool and it made 'rica more angry and Zona said nice things about us, Mami"

Callie looked at Arizona with a raised eyebrow; Arizona looked a little guilty and shrugged.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Mmmm..no…nope…not really. I think Benjamin's doing a great job already." She at least looked like she felt bad for using the kid as a cop out.

Teddy shot her a 'seriously' look, both Latinas were staring at her with narrowed eyes, expecting more, and Mark shared a look of approval, knowing he probably would have taken the out as well. Ben just beamed, seeing it as an okay to continue.

"Zona didn't even hit 'rica back the first time! But then she said mean fings about you, Mami, and Zona's brover – " His eyebrows knitted together as if he were trying to remember the specifics, not noticing the look of panic on the woman holding him.

"…you could hear everything?" Arizona squeaked out

He just nodded, as if she should have of known "But I covered your ears! With both of our hands!"

He shrugged "I couldn't hear as good as at the hos'pel, but I could hear most of it, 'rica was really loud"

He'd been subject to 'earmuffs' before when he might hear things he wasn't supposed to; he knew that if he cupped his hands the right way he could still hear most of the conversation. He looked between the adults and continued with his retelling of the events.

" – 'rica said that you'd leave, Mami, and that you love the idea of being in love and you'd leave Zona for a man and that Zona wouldn't have you and you'd take me away too and then Ar'Zona would have no… "no girl, no nephew and still no broter"" He recalled, to the best of his abilities, with conviction.

Benjamin looked around at the adults when no one said anything. Aria and Teddy were looking like that had just seen the Boogie Man, Mark looked Arizona when she was trying not to hit Erica, and his Mom and Arizona were standing there with their mouths opening and closing, not knowing what to say.

"So Ar'Zona winned. Like the movies! She winned against the bad guy so now there's no more bad guy and she gets us!" He beamed, proud of his logic; in his mind all the trouble was over and this was happy ever after.

Callie looked indignant at essentially being labelled as simply a prize between two love interests in Ben's little tale of events, but she was a little mad at herself for the thought crossing her mind that she totally wouldn't mind being a prize for Arizona. She wanted to know exactly what went on, at the hospital and apparently her front yard as well, but she didn't know how much more she could take today.

Arizona was feeling very similar. She wasn't quite sure how to deal with Ben's reasoning that people were prizes, so she didn't, that would have to be something they talked about later, it was a relatively small problem compared to everything else going on.

She knew that they needed a subject change soon or she would be running for the hills; she had been repressing the urge so far, but everything seemed to be snowballing before she even had the chance to recognize that the avalanche was starting. How _did _this day end up so twisted? Not even 12 hours ago her and Mark were planning on a fun day of picking out furniture with Ben – and now here they were with broken arms and a lifetime's worth of drama in one afternoon.

"Well, how about a family movie night?" Teddy broke the silence with her suggestion, knowing what thoughts were likely flowing through her best friend's head, and by the looks of it Callie was also struggling.

They all agreed and decided on their tasks; Mark would arrange the furniture in the living room for them all to have a space to sit, Ben would pick the movie while Teddy and Aria ordered in food for everyone and Arizona and Callie would bring in all Callie and Ben's stuff. Both of them were just relieved that the mood was lightened; lugging things around would be a good distraction.

Arizona grinned, dimples in full effect, as she remembered the look on Callie's face when Benjamin had basically implied that the two Torres' were a prize for her. Callie looked at her suspiciously as she put her arm around the taller woman's shoulders and pulled her closer, eyes twinkling a little more at sight of the Latina's expression.

"Coming, _trophy wife_?" She smiled so hard when she saw the playful fire in Callie's eyes that she thought her face might break.

"Hey, you might be the hero but I still expect a proposal before I'm a trophy _wife_, Robbins" Callie grinned.

"Fair enough…coming, _trophy wife-to-be_?" Thankfully they were both too distracted to take the playful banter as nothing other than face value.

"Oh, I don't know _Roller Girl_, I might be too busy _swooning _to be much help." She narrowed her eyes at the blonde who seemed to be enjoying her new hero status with Ben, she was thoroughly enjoying Arizona's playful side though.

"Well…just swoon back and forth from the car to the house, pretty lady" Arizona winked and grinned, Callie's eyebrows shot up and Arizona took off out the door with Callie chasing behind, their laughter and giggles floating through the air as they continued their back-and-forth.


	15. Rock, Paper, Snuggles

**A/N: Not much happens this chapter, just some fluffy/light times. I still felt as though it was a necessary end to their day. Next chapter is some of that "serious talking" nonsense!**

**Disclaimer: Much like I don't own Grey's, I don't own any of the shows and whatnot that work their way in their. If I owned Grey's and The Big Bang Theory I would not be awake at almost 3am writing fanfic, jus' saying.**

**Enjoy! I hope to eventually get around to replying to your awesome reviews sometime soon :)**

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The crew blissfully avoided all serious talk for the rest of the night. True to many of the stories Callie had heard from her son, there was an eating contest involving an extra-large pepperoni pizza and three children; Arizona, Mark and Ben.

Benjamin had chosen Spider-Man 2 for the evening's movie (after being told that he couldn't have a Spider-Man marathon and had to choose only one). Teddy and Aria were quick to claim the beanbag chairs, preferring some space to themselves, leaving Callie, Mark, Arizona and Ben to share the couch.

Callie didn't really mind; she could see herself curling up with Arizona and Ben every day, it just felt right to her, but it also made her heart a little heavy knowing that everything that had happened earlier that day would certainly make things more complicated. It bothered her a bit how close Mark and Arizona seemed to be, a little too touchy feely at times she thought, and promptly mentally chastised herself, remembering all the times Erica had said things like that about her; at least then there was some reasoning, she was just as likely to like a guy as a girl, but Arizona was gay, she was just being ridiculous and overthinking things.

Over the course of the first half of the movie Arizona and Ben had managed to spread out across the couch, Callie and Mark simply being minor inconveniences, sharing a skeptical look when the two blondes started maneuvering, _they so had this planned, the chose the middle on purpose. _Ben shifted towards the back, leaning out of the way while Arizona subtly stretched out until her legs were draped across Mark's lap while her head rested on Calliope's lap, Ben then climbing on top of Arizona with his head resting on her chest.

Ben drifted off shortly after getting more comfortable, Arizona soon followed, soothed by the tiny human resting on her. Aria had dozed off, falling over onto Teddy's shoulder, leaving Mark, Callie and Teddy with the task of waking everyone up.

Aria had surprisingly been the easiest to wake, although all three were just as groggy. Arizona had grumbled and turned to bury her head into her pillow, which was still Callie's lap, causing Aria and Teddy to burst out laughing and Mark to smirk. The commotion seemed to have woken the two blondes and Arizona's face flushed when she realized her position; she quickly made an excuse and made her way upstairs with Ben.

"I'll…I…I'm just gonna…go…upstairs and…get ready for bed…night!"

Callie was still red-faced from the incident and Teddy smirked, telling Mark and Aria they could stay at her place for the night. Callie tuned back into the conversation when she saw three sets of mischievous eyes on her, _'something isn't right here, I feel like I'm about to be punk'd'_

"There's only one bed, by the way…enjoy!"

She gulped as she watched the other three disappear and slowly made her way upstairs. The two blondes had already been gone a while so she assumed that they had simply fallen asleep but tried to find the creaky floorboards to try to announce her presence anyway. She slowly pushed the door to the master bedroom open, only to manage to startle Arizona who had been in the middle of changing her shirt. Warmth spread through her body as she stood there, stunned and unable to tear her eyes away "I, uh…wow…I mean not wow – not that you're not wow…cuz _wow_…I mean – "

Arizona finally seemed to snap out of it and grinned and giggled, pulling her shirt on, "Calliope, it's okay…super cute rambling though" she winked, secretly overjoyed that she could fluster the woman so much just by being caught topless.

"I can, uhm…sleep on the couch or whatever, if you don't wanna be in a crowded bed or anything…" Callie managed to quietly get out.

"Don't be silly, Calliope. There's more than enough space for the three of us, the couch isn't really good for sleep." She started to pull down the covers and arrange the pillows, the corner of her lips pulling up into a lazy smirk "Besides, what kind of victory would it be if I didn't get to fall asleep with my trophy family." There was that wink again, Callie wondered how long she could survive with her heart beating out of control like this all the time; and that warm, tingly, heart expanding out of her chest feeling when Arizona had said trophy _family_, she wished the feeling would last forever.

Just as Callie was about to open her mouth and try to think of an excuse for staring at the wonderful, wonderful sight, or some comeback to keep up with the blonde Ben came out of the bathroom in a "Bazinga!" shirt not too different from the one Arizona had just put on, except he was practically swimming in his, where Arizona's fit her perfectly.

That perfectly sculpted eyebrow lifted again and just brought Arizona's dimples out in full force.

"Mami! We match!"

Callie just shook her head and to change in the bathroom, mumbling about being with weirdos just loud enough for the two to hear her and giggle. She listened to them goof around while she got ready for bed and couldn't keep the smile off of her face.

Making her way back to the bed she wasn't able to stop the laugh that bubbled up seeing the two sitting cross legged, facing each other with determined looks on their faces.

"What on earth could you two possibly be arguing about at this time of night?" She asked with a bemused smile

Ben dove into an explanation while Arizona's grin threatened to possibly split her face "One sec, Mami." His tongue peeked out as their fists shook twice before they made their call – Rock for Arizona and Paper for Ben.

"Yes!" His little fist pumped up above his head and Arizona tried her best to fake a groan and look disappointed.

Callie gestured for some sort of explanation, which Ben happily supplied now that he had won "I told Zona 'bout your snores, and how you get really hot and hog all the bed."

She playfully narrowed her eyes at the pair "…you were having a rock, paper, scissors showdown to decide who had to sleep next to me?"

"We were going to play rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock but Zona didn't remember the rules." Ben said as if it was supposed to make it somehow better.

Callie rolled her eyes and a groan escaped when she saw them both flash the dimples…she was never going to win if she didn't figure out how to be immune to those soon, it was hard enough when it was just one of them, but both of them together? Nope, couldn't do it, she was helpless.

Ben crawled over the other side of Arizona as they all got comfy, Ben snuggling into Arizona's arms as they both wiggled to make their space.

"Guess it sucks to be you then, huh?" She smirked at Arizona as she settled in.

A smile played at the blonde's lips while she wiggled back into the deliciously curvy woman behind her, hearing a sudden gasp at the contact "I wouldn't exactly say that…sweet dreams, beautiful"

A hesitant arm made its way around Arizona's middle and they both sighed happily.

"Night…"

All three fell asleep with smiles on their faces, thinking the crappy day may have actually worked out for the best.


	16. Maybe Mom

**A/N: The updates will be a little slower now that I have to play catch-up with everything that I've been avoiding for the past few weeks! So enjoy this while it lasts haha I tried to do a little school work while watching Grey's earlier but it turns out my multi-tasking abilities let me down; turns out "his kidney could be president one day" isn't valid code! Who would have thought.**

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Callie woke and her first thought was that she must somehow be in heaven, despite what her father had told her that she would never get there with her "condition". After blinking a few times she realized she was still very much alive and on Earth, she was just blinded by all the blonde hair and the light from the windows bouncing off of it.

She had somehow managed to end up sprawled out in the middle of the bed with Ben covering her and Arizona, Arizona's limbs thrown over her carelessly; both still deep in sleep. Her arms were asleep and dead to the world but, unfortunately, she could feel everything else and was painfully aware of where Arizona's leg was. She tried to adjust and only managed to make it worse. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, trying to focus on the relaxing sounds of the two blondes sleeping rather than the feel of the hot blonde pressed up against her.

Without realizing it she had fallen back asleep only to be woken after another hour by the angelic sound of her little boy's laughter as he nudged her and Arizona into consciousness.

Both girls stretched and tried to hide how flustered they had gotten waking up tangled up in each other.

"Don't you want more sleep, buddy?" Arizona groaned and Callie murmured an agreement

"Nope, it's time for breakfast!" He smiled and bounced, much more awake than the bed's other occupants.

"mmmno…sleep…" Callie grumbled while Arizona forced herself up "Breakfast, eh? I think that's your Mami's department."

The two blondes grinned at each other and slowly turned to the Latina, who was becoming suspicious with the sudden silence. Her eyes shot open when she realized what was about to happen and narrowed her eyes at the blondes hovering over her wiggling their fingers to get ready for the tickle.

"Don't you dare!"

"Do you dare?" Arizona played, looking at Ben who nodded and they both attacked sending Callie into a fit of laughter

They had their tickle battle and fell back to the mattress with burning lungs and sore cheeks from all the smiling and laughing.

"That was mean…but actually pretty fun." Callie stated, turning to her side to see Ben studying Arizona who seemed to be just playing the staring game right back. She could see they both had something on their mind…at least now she knew where he got his "not talking" thing from; evidently his lack of communication came from his Robbins half.

"Words work wonders, ya know…" She gave them both a pointed look and received two sets of narrowed eyes looking back at her.

Ben looked back to Arizona and looked like he was carefully choosing his words "…do I have grandparents?"

Arizona didn't know what to say, she wasn't really ready to talk about this and she didn't even know what Callie wanted to do, so she sagely shot back "I don't know, do you?" To which she received two nearly identical "Seriously." looks.

"Well that was weird." She mumbled to herself and turned to Callie who just shrugged, looked away and then returned her gaze to give an affirmative nod. Arizona sighed and looked back to Ben who sensed that he should say more to encourage Zona.

"Mami's parents don't talk to us, I've never seed them. Do you see your parents? Do theyknow about me?" His voice was soft and vulnerable, Arizona swallowed the lump in her throat, she hadn't even really thought about how she was going to tell her parents yet.

"I do." She answered "We try to talk every week." She tried to think of how to phrase the rest "…they don't know about you, but we can tell them when you and your Mami are ready" She smiled at him, happy his good mood from earlier seemed to be picking back up "I'm sure they'll love you."

"They won't be upset?" It amazed Arizona and Callie once again how well Ben could read into emotions

Arizona decided the honest approach would probably be best, it would be better to console him now and try to prepare him than have him surprised when her Mom burst into tears or if the Colonel suddenly couldn't look at him; they were a family of avoiders and something was likely to happen with the strong resemblance.

"They might be a little upset, but only because they'll be sad that they missed out on spoiling you for the past 3 years," she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat again "and you look a lot like him, so they might look a little sad, but it won't because they don't like you, Little Man."

Callie's eyes watered watching and listening to the two blondes. She couldn't even imagine what either of them were feeling right now; she felt betrayed but she rationalized that in reality she wouldn't have known the "sperm donor" anyway, she knew "the talk" would have happened someday, but she thought it would be when Ben was a little older and there wouldn't necessarily be a person to fill in the "Dad" position. But now her son was finding out that the man who helped give him life was his new best friend's brother and they'd never be able to meet; Arizona was finding out that there was actually a living part of her dead brother left…and they both missed out on 3 and a half years already. Callie silently decided she would deal with her emotions later, and talk to Arizona if she needed to, but right now she needed to be there for her two blondes.

"You said when we first met that your brover was Batman…is that how he died?" Ben asked quietly and continued to study the other blonde with curious eyes

Arizona couldn't help but laugh and a small sob escaped.

"Hey mijo, why don't we give Zona a break, hmm?"

"I'm sorry, Ar'Zona…" He wanted to know what happened to his Dad but he didn't want to make Arizona cry.

Arizona just shook her head and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"No. It's okay, Sunshine – you can ask about him anytime, okay? Tim – " her voice cracked a little when she said his name, Callie gave her a supportive squeeze "he, he was in the Marines – he was helping our country when he got in a fight with the bad guys…he was too busy helping his fellow Marines to get out on time and didn't make it back home, he – he was a good man in a storm…" She meant to murmur the last part more to herself, but of course Ben heard it anyway.

"A good man in a storm?" His interest seemed to be further piqued

Arizona smiled as more tears escaped "Yepp, a good man in a storm, you'll hear that a lot from the Colonel." She saw his confused look and elaborated "My Dad was a Marine too, he always goes by the Colonel – his Dad was a Marine too; you'll hear aaaall about being a good man in a storm."

"The USS Arizona." Callie blurted out "Sorry…I mean, your name…it's not after the state, it's after the battleship…" They smiled warmly at each other while Ben gushed about how cool it was to be named after a battleship, which Arizona admitted that it was cool to have a name with history and significance but it wasn't all that fun growing up.

"Would I have like him…your brother?"

Arizona smiled fondly "You would have loved him."

"You guys were twins? He was a like a boy-you?" Ben asked causing Arizona to chuckle

"We were. Exactly like a boy-me, but a little more brave…better at talking about things…handsome just like you…stubborn and silly like me though…" She had to stop as her vision blurred, she didn't want to keep crying all morning and this was making her miss Tim a lot more.

"So…you guys are like two of the same people?" Ben's eyes narrowed in concentration

Callie jumped in for Arizona, sensing she didn't want to/couldn't talk at the moment.

"That's a good way of putting it, Benny" Arizona nodded

"So if you're the same and Tim was my Dad can you be my Mom?" He asked innocently enough, to him it seemed that simple; Tim wasn't around and Arizona was girl-Tim and awesome, he liked her, she felt way more like the other Mom he wanted than Erica ever had.

Arizona's lip trembled and the dam broke loose, tears falling freely as she pulled Ben into a hug between her and Callie who had also started crying. Callie hadn't been able to hold back any longer, Ben was trying to be so careful with his questions and it was the most vulnerable she had seen him be and he was willingly having a serious/emotional conversation. She finally broke when he asked Arizona to be his Mom; for as long as he was able to he had protested calling Erica anything other than her name and here he was, asking to be able to call Arizona his Mom…


	17. Easy Like Sunday Morning

**A/N: Huzah! Maybe a triumphant return? It's really just me avoiding more. Also, I don't know any Spanish, so apologies for any inaccuracies below or earlier in the story, I tried to use Google Translate to the best of my abilities. Enjoy!**

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The three of them lay snuggled together in a little cocoon of limbs and sheets, lost in their individual thoughts for what felt like forever. Callie's mind was still wandering to the two blondes in her arms, not being able to hold back thoughts that they would indeed make quite an _awesome _little family together; but everything just seemed to be moving so fast, which she had to admit wasn't really a problem for her at this moment, but the two eerily similar blondes had her a bit worried. Things were going relatively well so far, but she feared that meant an imminent shut down or running.

Arizona was lost in memories of her brother and thoughts of the little boy snuggled in between her and Callie. She could see, now, how Ben was the perfect mix of Robbins/Torres; physically it was rather obvious, the blonde hair, blue eyes and dimples with Callie's megawatt smile and a slightly darker complexion. Emotionally he was a perfect blend of the two, he'd avoid feelings and repress unhappy feelings, but boy could he have a temper and, much like Callie, you could tell he had a good heart from a mile away, and when he loved something he loved it completely. That was something Arizona was coming to learn, with Callie, and the other Torres' that she had met, there weren't any "half-loves"; you were in or you were out.

A small hand on her cheek broke Arizona out of her reverie "Ar'Zona?" Ben looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer to his question.

She wasn't really ready to answer; she loved Ben, she loved her brother, she definitely felt something for Calliope…but was that enough? She knew being a Mom came with more responsibility than just being loving and being there to goof around with like they had been for the past few weeks. Could she be a mother to her brother's child? She had never even wanted to be a mom in the first place…It was just too much for her mind to sort through; she would have normally run by now, be on her own to deal/not deal with things on her terms. She subconsciously snuggled further into Callie, seeking the only comfort available in the moment, and man did it feel good to be in those arms. She sighed.

"I…Ben, buddy…you already have a Mami…"

"I know. She's Mami, you'd be Mom." He stated with a proud smile, quite happy with his logic. "It would be awesome. Mami's awesome, and you're super awesome and I super awesome. So it would be…awesome." He beamed

Arizona couldn't help but grin while Callie rolled her eyes, they were even starting to sound alike with all the things they'd describe as 'awesome' and 'super'. Arizona pulled back a bit, looking a little smug and Callie couldn't hold back the groan, knowing that look meant she'd heard every word Ben had said.

"You are awesome, Calliope…and _we_," She pulled Ben into her for a bear hug as they both faced Callie with shit eating grins "aaare _super _awesome."

"_súper impresionante mi culo. no hay ganadores con ustedes dos ... mal, mal hoyuelos ... demasiado maldito lindo ... así que no es justo…"_ Callie mumbled to herself.

Arizona and Ben just stared blankly at Callie while she carried on in her own little world. Arizona was uncomfortably turned on by the sight before her; she didn't think Calliope could get any hotter but then she started speaking Spanish…with that sexy voice…in her bed…with their legs tangled together. She cleared her throat, she couldn't keep thinking about Callie like that with a little boy between them…and it probably wouldn't be appropriate given the circumstances anyway, but a girl could dream.

Ben, on the other hand, was impressed that his mother was still calmly lying in bed. Normally when she broke into Spanish she was pacing and waving her arms around and…kinda scary, he thought. If having Arizona there could keep scary Mami around, it further cemented his decision to have Arizona be his other Mom.

He pulled himself up to sit between the two women and turned his head back and forth looking at them, his Mami was still grumbling in another language while looking from Arizona to him, and Arizona who seemed to be watching Callie intently. He still didn't have an answer/confirmation he wanted and he was starting to lose his patience, he just wanted Arizona to be his other Mom and then they could all go downstairs and make some breakfast…well, him and his Mom could watch cartoons while his Mami made breakfast…and then Mark and Teddy and Aunt Aria could come over later…after he got time alone with his Moms…and…why was it taking so long? Arizona looked like she was thinking about something and Callie's rant had tapered off and she was now staring back at Arizona, Ben's eyes widened as he came to a conclusion and his mouth form an "o" shape.

"Ohhhh" he smiled as two sets of eyes turned to him silently asking him what he was talking about "You just have to ask Mami first, like I have to ask her about important fings."

Arizona just shrugged, that was a good enough excuse for her to drop the topic. Callie looked amused at the thought of Arizona having to ask her permission for something…she cleared her throat and tried to focus.

"She'll make-believe that she doesn't 'gree and use her serious face," he did an impromptu impression of his Mami's 'serious face' "then she'll say something gross about love and give us kisses," his face turned sour at the thought of getting kisses and his Mami babying him before brightening again "but then she'll agree and you'll be my Mom and we'll live here and I'll have two awesome Moms and an awesome house and Mark showed me the awesome room you drawed for me and Mami can stay here with you and make us breakfast **every morning **and we can bake Mami cupcakes and – Mami will be happy 'gain! 'Cuz Aunt Aria and Teddy said you guys like each other and Auntie Aria said Mami would not stop talking about…" his face furrowed in concentration as he tried to recall the conversation he had overheard "Mami would not stop talking 'bout Ar'Zona's sparkly blue eyes like oceans and blonde hair like sunshine. And somefing 'bout timeouts or being naughty…grounded? Some of the older kids at the daycare talk 'bout "grounded"..." his face screwed up in confusion again as he tried to work through the concept and different thoughts flying through his head "Mami if Ar'Zona was in trouble why would you be going to her room with her? Were you in trouble too? You bof grounded? Who grounded you?"

He continued to work through his thoughts out loud while Callie groaned and buried her head into the nape of Arizona's neck while Arizona shook with laughter.

"Hooooney I'm hoooome"

Three heads turned towards the rest of the house at the sound of Teddy's voice coming through the front door with Mark and Aria.

"Looks like you're saved by the bell…or the fabulous Teddy Bear, in this case." Arizona smirked at Callie, who couldn't see it because she was too busy hiding her face in Arizona's shoulder, hoping that the embarrassment would fade quickly.

"TEDDYYYYY!" Ben yelled back and jumped up to bounce on the bed. "Come on, Moms! Teddy's here!" He wasn't going to let technicalities get in the way, he'd already worked out that his Mami would agree to everything, so as far as he was concerned he had Moms now, not just his Mami.

Arizona sat up and she and Ben watched as Callie just groaned and put a pillow over her head, causing Ben to giggle. "Come on, Mami! We can play later!"

Looking like that cat that ate the canary, Arizona leaned back down to gently take the pillow away "Yeah, _Mami_, we can play later…" She was more than glad that Ben had apparently only heard the part of Aria and Teddy's conversation that involved Callie crushing on her and not the other way around.

Callie huffed and swung her legs over the edge of the bed "You're evil, woman…"

"Yeh, but I heard you like me…" Arizona winked at Callie, mischief twinkling in her eyes as she climbed out of bed, briefly getting a surprise as Ben jumped on her back, clearly wanting a piggy back ride down to the kitchen. "A lot even…or at least…what was it…" she put a finger to her lip as she pretended to think "my sparkly blue ocean eyes? Or my hair like sunshine?" She finished with a grin, dimples out in full force.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho, really, that's how we're going to do this…I see how it is" she shrugged her shoulders, unable to keep that megawatt smile off of her face, she couldn't even pretend to be angry. "I'm sure that was taken completely out of context…like…I probably mentioned you and then got distracted…by the ocean…and sunshine…" she trailed off feebly.

"Right, whatever makes you feel better, Calliope…" She smiled and leaned over to Callie's ear "I think you're pretty hot too" Another wink and she running out the door with Ben bouncing up and down on her back chanting for her to go faster.

A smile spread across Callie's face as she shook her head and followed after the blondes thinking of everything that had happened that morning. She was happy, like actually happy. Waking up tangled up in Arizona and spending the morning cuddled up with them in bed…it was the best morning she had in…she couldn't remember how long.


	18. Chocolate Dipped Calliope

**A/N: Warnings are as follows: It's a longish chapter and the chapter title is probably massively disappointing if you're expecting sexy times. **

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As expected, Arizona, Mark and Ben snuck off to the living room to the couch to watch cartoons while Teddy, Aria and Callie were left with the task of making breakfast. Teddy was slightly relieved to only see mild panic in her best friend's eyes when she made her way down with Ben on her back earlier. She was sadly aware that if it weren't for the little boy she would probably be dealing with a radically different version of her best friend; the one that ran from and avoided situations exactly like this. Aria didn't know Arizona as well as Teddy, but she knew her own sister and she liked to believe she knew Arizona fairly well, so she was pleasantly surprised when they walked in this morning and weren't in the middle of a heated discussion of sharing feelings vs. not sharing feelings.

"So…how'd it go?" She sideways glanced at her sister to gauge her reaction.

"Okay…I guess…I think? We…I don't know…" Callie looked a little frazzled trying to form words so Aria gave her a nudge "Use words, Cal…"

"I…We…didn't really _talk_…" At the gasp and cringe she received from Aria and Teddy, respectively, she rolled her eyes and decided she should elaborate. "Not like that, guys. There's only one bed...she wouldn't let me sleep on the couch and I wouldn't let her sleep on the couch…so we just stayed in her bed…we had Ben with us. We just…I don't know…enjoyed the night?" She took a deep breath and spoke quickly "And Ben kinda asked her to be his other Mom this morning…after asking about Tim…"

"What?!" Teddy dropped the eggs she had been holding and Aria choked on her coffee. Callie looked at the mess of egg and coffee splattered around and warily glanced towards the creators of said mess. She knew it was something big but didn't really think it truly deserved _this _type of reaction; Teddy and Aria looked like they just saw a ghost.

Without consciously realizing it, both Teddy and Aria craned their heads to make sure the blonde woman in question was indeed sitting in the house and sighed in relief. Teddy went about cleaning up the mess while Callie and Aria had a staring contest to see who would speak first.

"Seriously? I know that it's a…big," she gestured with her hands "scary kinda thing, but really, what's the deal? You both just looked out there…did you think I would have made her disappear or something? That I wouldn't share Ben or – do you really think that I would hurt – "

"Cal – shut up – it's not…_that_" Aria interrupted and looked to Teddy hoping that she might be able to explain the whole Arizona thing a bit better, unhelpfully, Teddy just coughed.

"Teddy, please…"

Teddy sighed and crossed her arms while she thought of the best way to put this "Look…Arizona, she doesn't do feelings…well, she does them…just…" Teddy didn't normally have trouble getting to the point but she didn't know how Callie would react given everything that had happened in the past 24hrs.

"She doesn't like to talk about _hard _feelings. She runs, she avoids, she internalizes, explodes eventually…not this" she gestured around in the direction of the "domestic bliss" with their makeshift family.

Callie looked slightly offended and opened her mouth but was quickly cut off by Teddy "It isn't anything personal. It's just what she does…commitment from Arizona means a lot of thought, planning, analyzing; not just jumping into something…especially with kids" She mumbled the last bit, knowing Arizona had never wanted her own kids.

Callie just sighed and looked a little defeated "Well, she didn't exactly say yes…"

"What?" "Cal, just tell us what happened."

"Ben asked…she said that he already had me and he said he could have both; Mami and Mom and it was actually pretty freakin' cute, he – "

"Cal. Focus."

"He asked and said we were all _awesome,_" She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile that started forming "But I started doing my…you know, switching language thing…and they were just staring at me with those damn sparkly eyes…and Ben somehow took that as meaning that him and Arizona just needed my permission for her to be his other Mom." She crossed her arms and huffed, remembering the rest of the morning "And then because he heard _you two _apparently talking about me liking Arizona, he went on this whole little spiel about what he had heard. So now, not only did we wake up all sexy tangled together but she knows…she _knows _that I said her beautiful blue eyes are like the ocean and her wonderful blonde hair is like sunshine…almost like a halo when the sun shines right…and her eyes change shades depending on her mood, but they're amazing all the time, I could get lost in them forever…well, she doesn't know those last bits, but…why, guys? Couldn't you have just been talking about something else?" It had clearly started as a rant but her voice shifted into dreamy talk as soon as she started thinking about Arizona again.

"Seriously, guys? You think this is funny?" She looked to the two women who were now standing side to side looking like they were trying not to laugh, hands covering their miserable attempts at not smiling "This is serious! Did you even listen to what I said? I woke up feeling like I was in heaven, with my two favourite blondes…yes, _**two **_favourite – which is a whole other issue given that…yeh – and I wake up to both of them in the same cozy space as me – only to have my own son basically spill the beans that I think Arizona – who he wants to be his other mother – is drop dead gorgeous and just…just, ridiculous! I mean have you spent time with her, she's just great to be around and I, ugh – are you guys even listening?"

Callie finally seemed to realize that their eyes weren't evening focusing on her when she looked to them and followed their gaze. Her eyes widened and she groaned, sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar and burying her head in her arms that were folded on the countertop. Standing there, listening for what she had hoped hadn't been the entire time, were Arizona and Mark with Ben between them, all grinning madly.

"Alright Sylvesters, let's give Tweety here a break and have some breakfast" Teddy tried to take the focus off of Callie and served everyone their breakfast.

"Uhm, I think I'm going to go get some donuts. You guys want anything?" Arizona tried her best to sound nonchalant. Mark and Teddy caught on though, Callie and Aria said they'd be fine with whatever and Ben wanted to tag along.

"Hey, Little Man, why don't you stay here and keep the ladies company and Zona and I will bring you back a special treat" Mark winked to the little guy, happy that he seemed pleased with the proposed plans, and offered Teddy a smile small "I'll go help, you ladies don't have too much fun without us" All three women just shot him a look while he smirked and Ben just chimed in with a "We won't" and Arizona grabbed her shoes and pulled a sweater on so they could go.

x-x

"Were you really going to run?"

"I wasn't going to run – I just needed some time…some space, you know?" It started out angry but ended up as more of a plea.

Mark just held his hands up "I get it – not all of it – but I know it's scary…"

"Is it bad if I just want to run as far away as I can?"

"You don't really want to though, do you" He asked knowingly while Arizona's posture slumped in defeat

"No. I can't. I want to…but can't."

"You could."

Mark knew about issues with commitment, and he had gotten to know Arizona quite well since they met; he knew the sooner she got to this revelation the better it would be for everyone – hopefully.

"I can…but I can't. I…I-I like them…but I don't think I can do this…"

"Look, the kid loves you, Callie is obviously crazy about you, you like her, the Wicked Witch is gone – so what's the problem?"

"And I love him too, and I know I like Callie and don't even get me started on Erica…I just…it's too much…" she admitted in a soft voice

"Not really." Mark played it off, hoping something would get Arizona to the point where she would admit what the heart of the issue was.

"Not really?! Really, Mark? It's like…everything! I don't want to pop the bubble."

"…the bubble?"

"I want Callie, I like Callie…but, but _this,_" she gestured around to try to somehow emphasize the point that this was her whole world seemingly imploding on her "is everything happening too fast…we were going at a nice pace before…I got to hang out with Ben and Callie did her thing and, and…things were still separate…now everything is here…and now." Her eyes widened.

Mark just shook his head "Okay, this isn't working. How about we take it one step at a time." He held up a fist a raised a finger for each list item "You like Callie, she likes you."

"Yeh, Mark, _like. _That should mean going on a few dates and taking things from there…not living together and raising a kid together."

"Not going there right now. You like each other. You both love Ben, Ben loves both of you."

Arizona just shot him a 'well, duh' look "Well that doesn't help, how could anyone _not _love him."

"Exactly. And if you guys do decide to live together then it would still be fine, your place is plenty big enough and you'll each keep doing your own thing."

Arizona just sighed "He isn't my kid…I never even wanted any…" she whispered more to herself, but Mark still caught it and he softened, the impact of Ben being Tim's child coming to the forefront of his mind.

"But he's pretty great…" he bumped his shoulder against hers "The "awesome" and ladykiller thing kind of gives it away…" They both smirked at that.

"Tim would have loved him…our Mom always used to tease us, saying that Timmy would make the perfect housewife one day and I'd make a stunning husband, he was always better with the idea of having kids and cooking and all that…domesticy stuff…and now he's gone…it doesn't feel right…"

"It's okay…I have a feeling he'd be proud of you…and want you to take care of him given the circumstances…you'll be able to tell Ben all about him and he'll be able to grow up with _a _Robbins…" He wrapped an arm around Arizona's shoulders and pulled her closer "Don't take this the wrong way, but…chances are, he wouldn't have been around for them anyway…" Arizona went to interrupt and he stopped her "I know, you've told me he was a great guy…but that isn't what this is about…this isn't you taking his wife and kid…_they _weren't his; they _could _be _yours_…"

Arizona sighed and rested her head against Mark's shoulder. She understood what Mark was getting at and knew it was true, but it didn't make it any easier to try to accept.

"Thanks, Mark…for everything…I just need time I guess…" He gave her a reassuring squeeze before taking his arm back to open up the door of the donut shop for them.

"So what 'special treat' are we getting the little guy?"

"Anything chocolately with sprinkles seems to satisfy a Robbins" Mark shrugged and grinned and Arizona swatted his chest but couldn't help the corner of her lips tugging upwards. Mark laughed after seeing the look on her face and swatted her back "Stop thinking of chocolate and sprinkles on Torres, Zona."

"Hey, what about her?" She gestured to a girl a few spaces ahead of them in the line "She looks like she'd be good for you…" She nudged Mark with her elbow. She wanted the attention off of her thinking of chocolate dipped Calliope but Mark had been dealing with her all morning, the least she could do would be to point out a cute girl for him, she looked a bit young but they seemed like they could be a good match. She turned to Mark when she didn't receive a response and saw a look on his face she had only seen when he talked about…

"Shit."


	19. All Tangled Up

"_Hey, what about her?" She gestured to a girl a few spaces ahead of them in the line "She looks like she'd be good for you…" She nudged Mark with her elbow. She wanted the attention off of her thinking of chocolate dipped Calliope but Mark had been dealing with her all morning, the least she could do would be to point out a cute girl for him, she looked a bit young but they seemed like they could be a good match. She turned to Mark when she didn't receive a response and saw a look on his face she had only seen when he talked about…_

"_Shit."_

* * *

Arizona glanced between Mark and the cute girl, torn between amusement and feeling bad on behalf of Mark. The nosey part of her wanted the girl to turn and spot them so she could find out what had her man-whore of a best friend so smitten; it seemed fair, he had met the woman who had her smitten and got to hang out with her and Callie on a fairly regular basis. The other part of her felt bad for Mark because the poor man was clearly unprepared and looked sort of like a lost little boy just standing there unmoving.

So they stood there all but staring the woman, each lost in their own thoughts, eyes still subconsciously checking out the brunette and shuffling forward as the line progressed. Had they been paying attention they would have noticed as the woman turned to them, shock briefly passing before settling into mild irritation.

The woman made her way towards them as they remain oblivious, only serving to irritate her further "Were you just checking out my ass?" She looks to Mark and then to Arizona "Were you _both _just checking out my ass?"

Arizona's eyebrows shot up in surprise and Mark just chuckled softly "Not the first time," he replies as his smirk widens "Won't be the last." The woman's exasperation is clear and she sets her jaw before making to leave "Lexie –wait," Mark gently grabs her arm "please."

She stopped and crossed her arms defiantly, suddenly taking notice of his casted arm before looking to Arizona and then to her casted arm before turning back to Mark. For the first time the pair seem a little embarrassed about their injuries "We, uhm – " they both start to explain before Mark takes over.

"We had a little…accident..it was, uh-yeh…" Lexie just continued to look at him, waiting for more of an explanation, which she apparently wasn't going to get. Her mind flashed back to her and Mark's "accident" which had led to him breaking a very different part of his anatomy. Now even angrier thinking of how the pair in front of her might have gotten these injuries as a result of a similar incident further irked her and she now shot daggers at Arizona, her eyes flicking between the blonde and her ex-lover.

"So…what? Is this the new Addison? There's going to be Sloan Jr. running around?" Lexie's voice started out strong and got more and more weak as she went on, each moment of silence from Mark breaking her heart further "Two Sloan Jr.'s, I guess. And, and…what, I mean…I thought…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…me and Mark? No…nope…nuh uh." Arizona's eyes were wide as she held her hands up "Sorry, I just…no. Me and Mark aren't…were never a thing…I'm gay…so gay." She looked between the two and opened her mouth to say something but closed it and spun on her heels instead "I'll go order, you two can talk…"

The two stepped out of the line and off to a slightly more private area before Lexie looked at Mark again.

"So, you two aren't…"

Mark let out a hearty laugh and shook his head "Nope. New best friends…"

"And your arm?" He shrugged "It was an accident…" At her look he continued "We were, uh, horsing around on the beams in her attic while we were insulting and were cruelly reminded of gravity…listen…could I, maybe…take you out on a date some time?"

"Mark…" She was softened at his uncharacteristic shyness but couldn't just let go of everything that had happened.

He held his hands up while subtly shifting closer. "I know, I know. I'm your boss, there's Addison, there's my past, all of that…and there probably always will be all of that. But I really do like you, Lex…I want to make this work."

"But what about _all that_?" She gestured the 'all that' with her hands and shyly looked at him "You're going to have a kid…with someone else, and what about the other women? The flirting? Even you and Arizona seem _close_…"

"We can figure it out, together. I will have a kid, yes, but Addison still won't talk to me so I can't lie and say I'll know what's going to happen…and there aren't any other women I want, I only want you. Arizona and I _are _close, she's like the sister I never had; that's it. C'mon…one date, you can see for yourself…"

x-x

Mark stepped up beside Arizona to help carry everything and they started making their way back; Arizona tried her best to be patient and wait to see how it went with Mark and Lexie while Mark tried his best to keep any emotion off if his face until a massive grin broke out halfway back to the house and Arizona's face mirrored his.

"I take it that things went well?" Her eyebrows raised in question and he shrugged "You could say that."

"Well?" If Arizona was anything while excited, it was impatient. "I have a date on Friday!"

The two of them beamed in excitement before Mark's happy expression fell into panic "Shit! What am I going to do? It's _Lexie. _I can't just do something…something _typical. _It's Lexie-freaking-Grey…it has to be…"

"Awesome." Arizona grinned, filling in. Mark just laughed and had to agree, it was special circumstances…it did require something _awesome _and who better to get help from than his best friend; they really did make quite the pair, walking along the sidewalk talking about the special ladies in their lives and how they intended to smooth things out and knock their socks off.

x-x

Ben had run out to play in the backyard shortly after Mark and Arizona made their way out, leaving the girls sitting on the deck to watch him play and chat amongst themselves while he kept himself busy with running around and the various toys he had grabbed from his bag in the house.

"So…" Teddy drawled out while she and Aria looked at Callie expectantly.

"So…" Callie replied the same and avoided eye contact

"You're really not going to talk about it?" Aria questioned, surprised that her sister wasn't jumping at the chance to talk things over.

"Talk about –" Callie started with avoidance but stopped abruptly at the glares she received from the other women.

"Well, let's see…you found out Erica had lied about the "sperm donor" – and didn't really seem to show any signs of regret or even respect when it came to Ben and Arizona – Arizona, who by the way, has been great with your son, and ended up having to deal with your crazy girlfriend…and that you're now apparently living with Zona, and Erica just disappeared after your fight AND your son now wants to call your crush/technically his Aunt, his other mom…what could there possibly be to talk about, Cal?" Aria finished by narrowing her eyes at her sister across the patio table.

Callie huffed and dropped her head back against the chair. She had been trying not to over think things…or to think about the situation at all, really. "I don't know, guys…" Levelling her head to look back at two sets of disbelieving eyes, she sighed. "I'm freaking out, okay? Yes, Erica left, and lied about…probably more things than I'd like to think about. I don't even want to think about her because it just makes so…so…sad, and angry! I mean she just dropped all of that on me and left! She came home to pack her things and then left! What if I hadn't of been there? Would she even have told me? I'm beginning to doubt it. Who even does that!? She didn't even seem slightly upset that she toyed with other peoples' lives!"

Callie's mood suddenly shifted and she swallowed the lump forming in her throat "She left…just like everyone else…and Benjamin…I've been such a terrible mother; how could I do that to him? Ben _never _liked Erica and I always just ignored it and tried to push them together…he probably hates me…" She shook her head and brushed away the few tears threatening to fall. "…and Arizona…I still like her! How can she ever feel the same way with all of this," she gestured around wildly her hands "going on? She probably thinks I was in on the whole thing and hates me! …no, no, you know what…she's too good for that…she probably doesn't blame me for anything, she probably feels sorry for me…" For a second her demeanor changed and there was a hint of a spark in her eyes "I _still. like. her. _If anything I like her more…and that's, that's ridiculous…I should be worried about my son and myself…I was in a relationship until yesterday for God's sakes! And…and now not only has my love life (or lack of) screwed me over, but Ben too! He already wants to call Arizona Mom! What if she decides she can't deal with any of this and leaves…and then we'll both be heartbroken…or what if she does want to be his Mom but doesn't want me…or if her parents…oh, God…her parents…they're probably going to want to kill me…"

Aria who had just been watching and listening to her sister with her jaw hanging open and eyes wide reached out to place her hand on Callie's shoulder to try to reason with her "Cal…Callie…Calliope!" She turned Callie to hold her attention "Just slow down. You're getting ahead of yourself. Erica's a bitch, there's nothing that can be done about that. You are not a horrible mother and Benny obviously does not hate you and just take your time and talk with Arizona…you're imagining an ending before anything can even happen. It hasn't even been a full day yet; just give it time."

Callie slumped and turned to Teddy, she knew Arizona better, surely she could offer some input; Teddy who was still in a bit of shock from the long winded speech didn't know what to say and just offered a small smile. "Sorry…"

"She hasn't ran…that's good, right? You said she runs away…and she hasn't…oh my God…she went out for donuts…and still isn't back…she – "

"Hey, hey…it is good. She'll be back, don't worry. I don't think she'll physically run away because she really does care about you and Ben…you'll just have to remember to be patient with her when it comes to talking…because that whole thing you just did, does not happen very often with Arizona."

Callie sighed while Teddy and Aria continued to try to reassure her that everything would be okay. They could faintly hear Arizona and Mark talking as they walked back up the driveway, what really alerted them to the presence of their missing companions was Ben's little body jumping up and running across the yard towards the front of the house yelling "ZONA, ZONA, ZONA!"

Three heads turned in unison watching as their troublemakers came into view around the corner of the house. Arizona had Ben on her hip, a giant red, blue and green slushy cradled between them, Ben's little hands and Arizona's casted arm keeping it in place and Mark with two boxes of donuts and a tray of coffee on top.

"Mami! Look at the gi-normous slushy **Mom** got us! It has three different flavours! We have to share it" His bottom lip jutted out into a pout before his megawatt smile broke through "But it's **huuuge**…and Mom doesn't have cooties, so it's okay." He stated resolutely

The three women at the patio table subtly winced when Ben had called Arizona "Mom", but looking at the blonde who's smile was just as big as Ben's they inwardly sighed in relief. Callie's look then turned into one of mock horror eyeing up the drink and two blondes "Do you know how much sugar that has?" She narrowed her eyes at Arizona before turning to Mark "You're responsible for them." She turned to Aria "And you're responsible for him." And then Teddy "And we, we will enjoy this beautiful afternoon." She grinned as Aria whined about being saddled with an unfair responsibility while Arizona and Ben started a slushy drinking contest with Mark officiating.

Groans filled the back yard as the two blondes reached the second colour/flavour of the slushy "Brain freeeeeeze" They whined before Arizona showed Ben the famous thumb trick to alleviate brain freeze and Mark suggested a donut break, which of course was really a donut eating contest break.

Teddy just grinned and light heartedly slapped Callie's shoulder "And here you were telling us about all your problems…you forgot to mention those two big kids you adopted over there…"

Aria played along and cocked her head "Yeh, Cal…I think they might actually be a bad influence on Benny…and you must not be taking very good care of them, two of them have broken arms…shouldn't you be making them rest instead of letting them have slushies and donuts?" She grinned.

"You two suck. I refuse to think of them as my kids even if they do sometimes act like it…and I would _gladly_ take care of Ben and Arizona. Mark's on his own though."

Teddy and Aria continued to tease Callie and they bantered back and forth while Mark, Arizona and Ben finished off their slushy and donuts and went to play around in the back yard, which lacked a lot but it did still have a hammock in the far, shady corner and it was a decent size and had plenty of room and nice trees if they wanted to add anything else.

"CAAAAAAAALLIEEEEEE"

Three heads spun around at the cry of the three "children" only to find two adults and a small child suspended between two big trees tangled up in a rope hammock, giggling and shuffling around trying to get free. Teddy and Aria doubled over in laughter and Callie couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"Well, guys, how are you going to get out of that one?"

Seeing her son poke his head through one of the holes near where Mark's leg was also through a hole, along with Arizona's knee, and three sets of blue eyes focused on her with adorable smiles – even Mark's, though she wouldn't admit it, was a little adorable – she knew she was going to end up helping them. Even her two companions eventually made it over to help after their laughter finally died down.

"How did you three even manage this?"

The three women worked away at getting the others untangled, slightly impressed at how tangled they had actually managed to get. Although it was slightly concerning for Callie that her son had apparently fallen in love with two overgrown children, who seemed to get in a lot of trouble without a three year old's help, she couldn't help but think it had been a pretty great day so far and she could only hope that things would stay that way.

* * *

**A/N: This 24hrs they've been living on won't last much longer, I promise, time will eventually speed up. Unfortunately in real life it's going a little too fast and I have a tonne of stuff to do, including make a website before the end of the semester, so if anyone needs one or wants a tumblr theme or something I'm all ears! Or eyes, as the inbox may have it. PM away! Cheers!**

**ps. anyone else oddly fascinated by Calzona fics with Arizona/Lexie as a brief thing? **


	20. Grampa Colonel

**A/N: Long time, no update, eh? I re-read some old chapters on here and noticed random words missing, so I'm not really sure what to do about that, anyone know how to fix that?**

**Anyways, enjoy! And thanks for all the support and whatnot, next chapter has Calzona and a rating bump!**

* * *

As time passed by, Arizona and Mark continued to hang out with Ben during the day, continuing to work on the house but taking it easy so that their broken arms would have a chance to properly heal. Although they both were initially amused by having broken their opposite arms, and at the same time, no less, it was now safe to say that they were both getting increasingly frustrated with the situation. Neither one of them liked to be incapacitated in any way and it was surprising for them how much harder a lot of common tasks were without the full use of two arms.

Callie had returned to work to keep herself distracted and had made a habit of dragging Aria along in the hopes that she might learn something and/or find her passion in something; she had significantly changed for the better since starting to hang out with Arizona, Mark and Teddy, but Callie still worried that Aria might go back to her old ways, and she didn't want that for her little sister.

Although they had been sharing a house and a bed for over a week now, both Callie and Arizona were skillfully avoiding any serious discussion. Neither wanted to jinx what they had going on; it was comfortable, a nice, pretty, pink bubble they could blissfully exist in. Callie still hadn't brought up her insecurities regarding everything that happened, nor had Arizona, who was also avoiding her parents. There was no talk of their feelings for each other, or Erica, or Tim, or Ben's decision to call Arizona "Mom"; and while Arizona was perfectly content with this avoidance technique, Callie's frustration was bubbling beneath the surface, waiting for the inevitable breaking point.

Aria spent most of her free time bluntly prodding them to "get all the touchy feely crap out of the way", Teddy more subtly coaxing them as well as gushing about some redhead she had met at the hospital, and Mark, who was oddly more understanding in Arizona's case, would discuss with Arizona about how to deal with everything that was going on without freaking out and jumping ship.

x-x

Teddy was in the kitchen preparing homemade burgers for Mark to throw on the BBQ when her phone rang. Assuming it was her crush, who said she would be calling around this time, she got Ben, who was situated on Arizona's hip to tap the 'Answer' and hold it to her ear; it was a call she didn't want to miss, even if it meant she had to look ridiculous with a 3yr old holding her phone to her ear and having her best friend overhear everything.

Ben was more than happy with his task of being a personal assistant, the whole reason he was on Arizona's hip in the first place was because he wanted to help in the kitchen, to learn to cook like his Mami, but wasn't tall enough to get to anything. Ben and Arizona were playfully bickering about Ben getting too big when they saw Teddy's face drop.

Big blue eyes narrowed at the sheepish and apologetic look on Teddy's face when the phone was redirected to Arizona's ear. An eyebrow raised as Teddy held up her hands and mouthed 'I am so, so sorry' and took off to the backyard with the plate of burgers.

"…hello?" Arizona hesitantly spoke into the phone, unsure of what she should be preparing herself for.

"Arizona Robbins, I know you have some explaining to do." Arizona became even paler and gulped.

"I-I do?"

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for almost a week now! I had to call Teddy to finally get a hold of you! What's going on?"

"I-uh…nothing, I've just been…busy…"

"Arizona…"

Arizona stood still and silent while her brain worked in overtime trying to get a hold on the situation and figure out what she was supposed to say…what she _needed _to say, while Ben patiently held the phone in place for her.

"Arizona?" She heard the click as the other handset came on and her father's gruff voice carried through the line.

"Mom? Who is it?" Ben spoke up, his patience expired.

Arizona's eyes widened as she heard sputtering on the other end of the line, obviously they had heard Ben.

Barbara and Daniel Robbins knew it had been a while since they had last seen their daughter, and they hadn't heard much from her lately, but they certainly weren't expecting to hear anything like _that _directed towards _their _daughter; she had always been adamant about not having kids.

"…_Arizona Robbins. _Who was that? What are you not telling us? Is this why you've been keeping your distance from us?"

"Barb, let the girl explain." She'd be grateful for her Dad showing more understanding if it weren't fact that she knew he was demanding answers in his own fashion.

Arizona swallowed in an attempt to moisten her throat and didn't take her eyes of Ben the whole time. _'Now or never' _she thought as she took a deep breath.

"Uhm…Mom…Dad…"

"Yes, dear?"

"You, uh, you have a grandson." She held her breath and flinched a little when she heard her mother squeal with excitement and she could practically see the Colonel's eyes narrow as he cut in "But, Bug – we just saw you at Christmas – and you were not with child." She could hear her Mom scolding him before he cleared his throat "Not that I'm not happy for you, but – help me understand here, Bug."

This is what she had been trying to avoid; the air always thickened when Tim's name was mentioned around her parents, and she didn't know how to tell them that Ben was Tim's child – and that she had known for a little while and hadn't told them – and she still needed to talk to Callie about all of this. She sighed.

"He's not…'mine'…per se, he's…Tim is the father."

She carefully watched Ben while she waited for what felt like forever for her parents to say something; she would have rather had this conversation, not at all, to be honest, but if she had to she would have rather have had it with Ben not listening. Even though it didn't seem to upset him, she felt it was something that he didn't necessarily need to be hearing about at his age.

She listened as her mother and father both started talking at the same time, firing off questions and rambling about missed time; questions about the mother, and how she found out and how long she had known.

Little Ben was getting tired and had laid his head down against Arizona's shoulder while his elbow rested against her to continue to hold the phone up; had Arizona not been carefully listening to make sure neither of her parents had a heart attack, or she herself didn't pass out, she would have set him down and held the phone herself and had a more 'private' conversation with her parents about the whole situation. But she didn't, so Ben was getting restless and his tiny human patience was wearing thin. Much like both his Torres' and Robbins' sides, he didn't like to be left out and from what he had pieced together, Arizona was on the phone with her parents and he still wanted to meet his grandparents, since he never got to meet his Mama's parents.

Finally, one question stood out as it left both parents' mouths at the same time "He calls you Mom?" Leaving Arizona, once again, speechless.

Ben saw this as his opportunity and slyly pulled the phone down to his ear and snuggled further into Arizona now that he was more comfortable without having to hold his arm up. By the time Arizona had realized the phone was no longer beside her, the thought flashed through her mind that the responsible adult thing to do would be to take the phone back and discuss this with her parents, but this opportunity seemed too good to waste, so she settled for just listening and feeling slightly guilty for using the little boy at a metaphorical shield; maybe he'd help calm them down a bit.

"Nana? Grampa Colonel? Hi." He said simply, and waited for some sort of response. He remembered asking Arizona about his grandparents before and what he should call them, Arizona had thought her mom would probably like being "Nana" more than "Grandma" and her dad would get a kick out of still being the Colonel, but Ben didn't quite understand yet that Colonel was a title more so than a name, but "Grampa Colonel" was pretty cute so Arizona knew her father wouldn't be upset.

There was still silence on the other end of the line so Ben decided to continue "I call Ar'Zona Mom 'cuz her brother – my Dad – died being a superhero and they were like the same person, only a boy and girl. So Ar'Zona can be my Mom. She's awesome and I like her a lot, a lot, a lot. She shows me cool stuff and tells me cool stories. She gets to call me Benjamin, cuz I like it when she says it. You guys can call me Ben, or Aunty Aria calls me Benny, but it's weird."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Ben" Barbara finally spoke "Could you pass the phone back to Ari – your Mom?"

"You don't wanna talk to me?" He asked softly and Arizona stiffened defensively, she knew the news would have caught her parents off guard, but her Little Man deserved nothing but love.

"No, no, honey. That isn't it at all. I'd love to talk to you, but I need to speak to Arizona about coming to _see _you."

"Really?!" He asked excitedly and went on to tell them how excited he was because he'd never had grandparents before and Arizona had told him all about how great they were and how she had gotten her name from her Grandfather. Barbara had assured him that they would make the time to come out and see him as soon as they could, and told him, much to his pleasure, that he would be properly spoiled, as he was their only grandchild and all. But to him there was still something missing; he had only talked to his Nana and had yet to hear anything from his new Grandpa.

"Grampa Colonel?" He heard a gruff sound as the Colonel cleared his throat "Yes, Sunshine?"

Ben's smile could practically be heard by the elder Robbins "That's what Mom calls me! How'd you know, Grampa Colonel?"

He chuckled and told her how Arizona and Tim had the same nicknames when they were younger and Arizona smiled as she listened to Ben and her parents talk. It went better than she had thought and she was looking forward to them coming to visit.

Now she'd just have to tell Callie and get more of her house put together. No big deal, right?


	21. Talk is Good

Callie was livid. She stormed through the front door and headed straight to Arizona, sending Ben out to the backyard with Aria and Mark, silently communicating through eye contact with her sister that she was not to be interrupted while she spoke with Arizona.

Arizona was roughly pulled away from the kitchen, Callie dragging her up the stairs by the one good hand she had "Whoa, whoa – Cal, what the hell? – I – ow! Could you please tell – ugh – me what's going on?"

As they got to the master bedroom for privacy, Callie swiftly closed the door and spun Arizona around to face her "Erica put the house up for sale."

"Okaaaaay…" Arizona could tell that Callie was upset, but she didn't quite understand why she was _this _upset, and why it seemed like _she _was getting in trouble.

"Erica put the house up for sale." She reiterated "Without telling me. Or consulting with me. Or anything. I just drove by and saw a for sale sign. I called the hospital and apparently she resigned over a week ago. Over a week ago!"

Arizona opened her arms and moved forward to embrace Callie, but Callie just stepped back and crossed her arms and _that look _flashed across her face. Arizona knew that look, she had seen it a few times between Callie and Aria; she knew she was in for a doozy now.

"No! No. You don't get to hold me now." At the confused and hurt look on the blonde's face she continued "What are we?! We don't talk…about anything that we _need _to talk about! We've been sharing a bed for almost two weeks, now! I wake up tangled up with you and Ben every morning! Ben calls you his other Mom! I like you! I thought…I thought you liked me too…but we just keep moving around each other and I know it's soon after Erica and you apparently don't like commitment, but I've known – I've known since the middle of that night I showed up looking for Ben that there was just _something _about you…I-I just – "

She was cut off by soft pink lips pushing up against hers and arms wrapping around her waist as she found herself walking backwards until the back of her knees hit the bed. Falling into a sitting position, lips still connected to Arizona, and the blonde straddled her legs and broke the kiss to rest their foreheads together. Looking into blue eyes that were now a few shades darker she tried to regain her resolve "You can't just – "

She was cut off by another soft kiss from the gorgeous blonde on her lap.

"I like you too." Arizona looked into Callie's deep brown eyes and gave her another quick peck on the lips "I know I don't handle the whole talking thing as well as I should, and that there are a lot of things we should talk about. But don't think that I don't like you too, Calliope."

Callie wanted to just give in and take the woman on her lap right now, but she knew she couldn't just do that "But what about…everything? Our feelings? Ben? Him calling you Mom? Me being homeless? You know…_everything_?"

Arizona grinned and gently pushed Callie backwards with her upper body until her back was against the mattress, subtly moving her hands from Callie's hips under the edge of the blouse she was still wearing from work.

"Well, let's see…our feelings? I like you, you like me; problem solved. Ben? He's awesome, a really, really great kid. I've gotten used to him calling me Mom and love being a part of his life. You aren't homeless, you live here, with me. Everything will be fine."

Callie still looked hesitant and Arizona motioned for her to explain "It's just…that's a lot of…commitment…" She narrowed her eyes, seeing a different sort of sparkle in those beautiful blue eyes. The only other time she saw a look like that was…_when her and Ben were up to something_… "Okay, not that I don't love the direction this is going, or you doing the whole…communicating thing. But, what's going on?"

Arizona's eyes momentarily widened and she decided to give sweet ol' distraction one more try and begin kissing and nibbling her way along Callie's jaw "Nothing," she sweetly grinned, causing Callie to wonder how one woman could be so sweet and sexy at the same time "You just bring out the best in me, Calliope."

"Okay, that was a little cheesy, even for you." Callie swiftly flipped them over, effectively pinning the blonde to the bed causing soft moans to escape both women. Callie wasn't going to let it detour her though "Seriously, what's up?" She waited for an answer but Arizona's eyes were still glazed over; their owner lost to the world. _Payback, _Callie thought, leaning down and planting soft, wet kisses up Arizona's neck to the base of her ear "Nothing else happens until I have answers, Robbins…"

Arizona felt like she was going to explode; her whole body was buzzing, Callie could somehow make her feel like she was on fire and being thrown in a lake of ice water at the same time. Knowing Callie would likely want to jump up and pace when she heard the news, she quickly rolled them back over with strength that impressed the Latina. With Callie's hands now clasped in her own and her body holding Callie's down, she took a deep breath "My parents called today…"

She felt Callie relax underneath her and wondered how she could have misjudged the potential reaction by that much. As if Callie could read her mind, her question was soon to be answered "That's it? Babe, they've been calling you for a while; you keep telling me every time you let your phone ring forever."

Arizona grinned, Callie hadn't even recognized it, "You called me babe." Callie's eyes widened "Shit. Did I? I – " Cut off by a kiss, again.

"It's okay – I like it." Another peck on luscious lips. "…I mean, unless you don't – or – " Now it was Arizona's turn to be cut off by a kiss.

She pressed their lips together again and couldn't help but moan "I could get used to kissing you – mmm – so awesome."

Callie chuckled "Awesome? Really? But no changing the subject! Whatever you're not telling me can't be your parents calling, because that isn't news, so spill."

Arizona sighed and made a face "Well, technically it is…" At Callie's face, that looked like the new habit of kissing might get revoked, she continued "I, uh…answered this time…" As Callie stared at her imploringly, her speech sped up as she started to panic "Well, _I _didn't…Teddy did…thinking it was someone else…and it obviously wasn't. My Mom was _not _impressed…and Benjamin called me Mom loud enough to be heard shortly after the Colonel came on…they, uh, talked and stuff…theyrecominginaweekorsotovisit."

"THEY'RE WHAT?! A WEEK! Arizona!" Callie tried to jump up off the bed but Arizona respectably held her down "A week! One freaking week! Arizona, I thought we were going to talk about this! I – ay dios mios!"

Arizona smiled and placed her lips against Callie's, she could handle being the calm one when Callie wasn't. "It'll be fine – you'll like them; they'll love you. Ben already loves them and I'm pretty sure they already love him."

Callie sighed as she began to cave "How can you be so calm about all of this?" A shrug was given in return "Because you're not."

Soulful brown eyes rolled at the blonde's answer and she sighed again "What if they don't like me? Or Ben? Or whatever we're doing? Or if they blame me for everything? It's just going to look like I took advantage of their son, and then ditched Erica to play house with their daughter and take advantage of you – I mean, you just said I can live here, and I pretty much have been, but it's _your _house, and I don't really contribute, and we all share a bed, and, and they're going to hate me!"

Arizona's eyes rolled towards the ceiling and her lips puckered as she feigned thinking "You're right, you're totally horrible, Calliope. _Totally _horrible. Waking up to your gorgeous face and a handsome little man every morning? Why on Earth would I want that? You should stop taking advantage of me, it's just horrible. Although, if you wanted to _take. advantage. _of me..." She grinned at the unpleased look on Calliope's face.

"Seriously." Callie groaned as she dragged the word out "What am I supposed to do? Introduce myself as the mother of their stolen grandchild? Your dirty mistress? The filthy freeloader?" Arizona's eyebrow lifted as Callie continued; she swallowed, she could do this; she was ready. After an affirmative nod, she looked into Callie's eyes and waited until Callie got everything out of her system.

"All done?"

"Arizonaaaa"

"What? It's a serious question."

"I'm done if you have answers for me."

Arizona blew out a steady breath and wiggled against Callie, savouring the feeling in case this blew up in her face "You could always introduce yourself as Calliope mygirlfriend Torres." _Well that wasn't too bad, _she thought. She only mumbled the one, important, part and sandwhiched it in there in a sort of sneaky way.

Callie's mouth opened and closed, she didn't know if she had heard Arizona correctly or if she had been imagining things, but Arizona quickly interpreted it as a bad sign and began back peddling but quickly changed her mind; she wanted this, if she had to work for it, so be it. "It's stupid, I know it's really soon, and we haven't had very much time for just the two of us. But, Calliope, you make me feel…all sorts of things. Things I don't normally feel. I enjoy getting to text you while you aren't here, and getting to see you every day, and waking up to you and spending time just hanging out with you and Benjamin. I like knowing you're just _here, _and normally that would make me want to run away…but I want to stay, for you. And for Ben. For _us._"

Tears welled up in Callie's eyes as she listened to Arizona's speech. It was the most emotionally vulnerable speech she had heard from the blonde, and it was for her. Before Arizona knew what was happening, she was on her back once again, as Callie flipped them and repeatedly kissed her saying yes until she caught Arizona's lips in a long, passionate kiss before they separated to breathe with grins spread across both of their faces. They laughed as they continued stealing kisses, realizing they should have just "had the talk" sooner.

"Moms! Moms! Moms!" By the time they heard the chant, the little boy was through the door and excitedly talking about dinner when he stopped dead in his tracks "You're having a tickle fight without me?!"

He ran and jumped up onto the bed, successfully wedging himself between Callie and Arizona, who both tickled and hugged him closer. He looked between the two women who were smiling and happier than he had seen either of them in a while and beamed, turning his head to Arizona "You as'ed her?!"

"I did." Arizona beamed back and Callie narrowed her eyes at the pair and then at her son "You knew about this? You're supposed to be on my side!" He kissed her cheek before laying down with his head on Arizona so he could look up at Callie, who was still holding herself above them "But it was 'possed to be a surprise! I couldn't. I double promised." He stated seriously "Now I get to be Teddy's wing man while you have Mami and Mom time!" He exclaimed, and before he could be questioned, bounced in place "Does this mean we can talk 'bout Nana and Grampa Colonel now?!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Callie's eyes narrowed once again, bouncing back and forth between two dimpled faces, who looked awfully guilty. It certainly wasn't hard to tell when either of them were up to something. "Why are you Teddy's wing man? I thought we talked about putting an end to your wingman days, and how long, exactly, have you two known about the grandparents' visit?"

Arizona shrugged and tried her best to look cute enough to get out of trouble but Ben held no such reservations, he was too excited that he could finally talk about "the secrets" and started rattling off everything he wanted to share "Auntie Aria says Teddy like a fire head at the 'ospital and she's having a baby so I'm 'pposed to show her that kids are awesome and Teddy's awesome. Like the pretty ladies with Mom and Mark!" He stated proudly and put his serious look on, recalling 'the rules', "Not lies. That's bad. Just helping them see the awesomeness and paying 'ttention to the good fings." He beamed as Arizona grimaced; this definitely wasn't helping her case.

Callie just took it in stride "And the grand – Nana and Grandpa Colonel? How long have you two known about that?" Ben just shrugged "Only a few days."

A sigh escaped Callie's lips as she looked down at the two blondes "What I am supposed to do if I can't even be mad at you guys right now?" She pouted as two sets of dimples popped out and Arizona and Ben reached up to wrap their arms around Calliope and give her a big hug. She was in serious trouble when it came to those two.


	22. The Big Night

"Tell me again why my son is going on a date with your best friend?" Callie asked while pacing between the living room and kitchen

"What – he's not going on a date with me!" Mark said, and it was hard to tell if he was just being an ass or genuinely confused. Arizona just rolled her eyes and swatted his chest from her place next to him; busy trying to finish putting the finishing touches on their specially designed coffee table.

"She was talking about Teddy, my _best _friend. Not you, best _manfriend. _And," she turned her gaze to Callie "Don't say it like that. You make it sound like it's just the two of them." She shuddered "Teddy's a grown woman. She just happens to need Benjamin to prove to her lady lover that the kid she's going to pop out soon won't be a horrible little monster…and that Teddy's good with kids…long haul and all that." She waved her hand around as she became distracted again.

Callie continued to pace and mumble, alternating between English and Spanish, as Mark and Arizona finished with the coffee table and moved everything they had cleared from the area back into place to look presentable again.

"Who is this date, anyway? And I thought Teddy was straight…"

That got Mark's attention. "Hey! I did too! What's up with that?" They both turned to Arizona for an answer, who simply shrugged

"She is, most of the time. This one's obviously special."

Mark simply flopped onto the couch and Arizona leaned against the counter and pulled Callie closer by her belt loops. "What are you really worried about?"

Callie sighed and rested her forehead against Arizona's head. "There's just so much happening…and everyone is here, and then gone, and I don't even know why I'm so worried about Ben going with Teddy and...and…what's her name, again?"

Arizona's eyebrows scrunched in confusion, and thought. "I actually…don't know…I'm sure Teddy has mentioned it, I just can't think of it. She should be here soon anyway." She gently pulled Callie even closer and gave her a reassuring squeeze "Don't worry about it. Teddy and Ben are going to have a good time with…Mystery Woman, Mark is going to have a good night out with Lexie, and _you _are going to have a great night out with your girlfriend." She beamed as she earned a kiss from Callie that soon turned into a smirk as she thought of her plans for the night. She didn't want to take things too quickly, but she was praying to a God she didn't even believe in that Callie wouldn't abide by the 3 date rule with their special circumstances; Callie would be worth the wait, but Arizona was only human and spending the past few weeks waking up in Callie's arm, nuzzled against her luscious body, was taking its toll. She would _try _to be patient, but couldn't, and wouldn't, make any promises.

"Remind me why they're meeting up here? Doesn't Teddy have her own place?"

Mark received two 'seriously?' looks from the women in the room and groaned, knowing what was coming.

"I don't know, Mark, both of my best friends claim to have their own homes, yet both of you are meeting your dates _here _tonight."

"**But **you looove us" Teddy drawled as she made her entrance and wrapped Arizona up in a hug "Did I thank you again for tonight?"

Arizona argued that she had thanked her plenty, but she could again by telling her about this woman she was going out with. Teddy simply deflected questions from everyone and went to make sure Ben was ready to go. She did feel a bit bad about using Ben like this, but to be fair she planned the first "real" date she would have with her crush around Ben to make sure he would have a good time too, also resulting in it ending at an earlier hour for him to not miss bedtime.

The doorbell rang and before she could bound down the remaining stairs she saw her best friend swinging it open and she groaned but perked back up when Arizona's shoulders slumped, apparently it was Mark's date that had arrived. She glanced at the clock and realized it made sense, if it had of been her date, she would have been arriving over a half hour early.

Callie sat in the living room talking to Lexie while Mark and Arizona were busy fussing with Teddy about Ben's outfit. Mark and Arizona, of course, argued that their opinion held more weight because of their respective dating experience, Teddy arguing that that was exactly why _her_ opinion should be taken more seriously, given that both of them were only starting to get serious with girls _now_.

Lexie found herself enjoying the company of Callie, the more they talked, the more they found themselves in similar situations; both hesitant about being in relationships with people who had histories of running away from commitment, and who seemed to spend an alarming amount of their time together. Did either one of them even work anymore? Callie can recall a few nights that Arizona had locked herself up to work, and Lexie had seen Mark at the office a few times, but that was about it.

When the doorbell rang for the second time, no one upstairs seemed to hear, leaving Callie and Lexie to answer it.

"Addison?" "Callie?"

Addison checked the address again while Lexie looked back and forth between the two women. "You two know each other?"

"She's the – "

"I knocked Callie up." Addison interrupted, smirking while Lexie's eyes widened.

Seeing the look on Callie's face, she sighed and offered her hand to Lexie "Addison – **Dr. **Montgomery."

Looking visibly more at ease, Lexie chuckled "Sorry, I – " She shook her head "Sorry."

The three sat down to chat while waiting for the others to make their way downstairs. Lexie learned that Addison and Callie had hit it off while Callie and Erica had originally gone to see her and along Callie's pregnancy, they had become good friends but just got caught up with life – Callie had work and Ben, and Erica – Addison had even briefly moved to LA to work before making her way back to Seattle.

Teddy and Addison had discussed the whole Arizona/Callie/Erica/Ben situation, so thankfully that wasn't brought up, Addison wasn't really one to shy away from touchy subjects, but not only was now not a good time, but she still felt bad about the part she inadvertently played in everything.

Lexie couldn't help but think she knew Addison from somewhere. She knew she didn't, she has a photographic memory, she'd remember, right? It was when Mark came barreling down the stairs, hot on the heels of Arizona and Ben, stopping dead in his tracks and as pale as she'd ever seen him that it clicked.

It became evident that neither Mark nor Addison knew the other was going to be there either. Teddy came down the stairs to be greeted with a whopping serving of awkward and quickly pieced together what Lexie had moments before. She heard bits and pieces of how Addison ended up pregnant from Addison herself and how Mark had some sort of Baby Mama Drama, but now it all came together and made sense.

There was no way she was going to let this night go to waste though, she couldn't; she really, _really _wanted this.

She must have been frozen in place because all of a sudden Arizona's arm was wrapped around her waist and she was being guided towards the door with Benjamin and Addison. A quick "it can be dealt with later" was whispered in her ear while she was embraced in a quick hug before they got shooed out the door.

Lexie still sat, mouth hopelessly opening and closing, floundering for the words she willed to come out but Arizona was faster, grabbing Mark and pulling him over and holding out his hand for Lexie to take.

She impatiently waited for Lexie to stand up next to Mark and started shooing them in the same manner that she had just used to get Teddy, Addison and Ben out the door.

Lexie came to a halt at the door and looked between Mark and Arizona "Maybe we should – "

"Nope! No, no, no. You guys go, have fun. There's plenty of time for talking later. Plenty! All sorts of time…just not _here_, or _now." _Arizona cut in, not about to let the night go to waste, and knowing how badly Mark wanted things to work out between him and Lexie, she wanted him to be happy too.

With everyone finally out of the house she turned to find Callie, eyebrow raised. "A little anxious, are we?" She tried to play it cool, but she was very glad that Arizona had managed to get rid of everyone.

"Well, I do have a hot date tonight." She easily played back.

x-x

Callie groaned when she heard the doorbell; her and Arizona has just went their separate ways to get changed not even 10 minutes ago and now someone was back, undoubtedly to put a damper to their plans.

She waited but didn't hear Arizona going to answer to door and was momentarily relieved that whoever had come had disappeared just as quickly…and then the doorbell rang again.

Sighing and pulling her shirt on, she made her way down to the door, ready to give whoever was on the other side a mouthful. She swung the door open and froze, hand midway to resting on her hip, absolutely stunned. She had not been expecting that. Arizona stood grinning on the porch, with bouquet in hand and that dimpled smile on her face that lit up Callie's whole world.

Arizona's eyes wandered up and down Callie's body and she was almost positive the world stopped spinning. She couldn't even imagine that she'd have the ability to function if the date had have required Callie to dress up if she looked this good in jeans and a plain top.

A car speeding down the usually quiet street brought them back to reality and Arizona offered her hand to her date and Callie couldn't help but softly chuckle, earning a curious look from the blonde.

"It's just – I feel like such a teenager, and I can't believe you actually left the house to get me to answer the door!"

Arizona smiled even wider and bumped shoulders with the Latina "Well, I have to make tonight special…I know we haven't really done anything in order, but I want to make sure you get at least one nice and relaxing night."

Callie felt like she might start crying, she couldn't remember the last time anyone had treated her like this, and it wasn't even a huge thing – and it was the very beginning of the date. She swallowed, trying to bite back the emotion and surged forward, pinning Arizona to the door of her car and capturing her lips and sliding her hands down the blonde woman's sides to rest on her hips.

If Arizona was honestly making an effort – and she clearly was – then so would she. She didn't want to lose this, she would show Arizona that commitment could be worth it.

Arizona was initially startled but as soon as Callie's lips brushed up against hers she didn't even feel like she was on Earth anymore. Her lips were tingling, the butterflies in her stomach turned into stampeding elephants carrying warmth throughout her body, there were drums, doowops, and diddies playing in her head and it felt like she might actually be floating out in space with no one but her Calliope.

Callie slowly pulled back and watched as Arizona's eyes eventually fluttered open, still unfocused. A dopey grin was spread across her face and Callie just felt so…_right. _Knowing that she could make Arizona that happy with just a kiss, and that Arizona gave Callie the same feeling made her ecstatic.

To top it all off, she could proudly call Arizona her girlfriend. She gets to be the only one to kiss those lips, and be the cause of that breathtaking smile, and go home to her. And tonight, her stunning _girlfriend _is taking her on a date.

If for no other reason, today would be a great day simply for the fact that she was going on a date with her girlfriend, Arizona Robbins, who she is certain is turning out to be the love of her life.

* * *

**A/N: So that was a thing. No matter what I did or how many times I re-wrote this I'm just not happy with it. So hopefully you guys like this chapter more than I do! It was mainly necessary for the Addison/Teddy and Addison/Mark bit; but unless there's a lot of people that want it, there won't be much more about either of those relationships. (ie. next chapter you'll find out about Calzona's date, but I highly doubt I'll be writing about the other two)**

**Thanks for your patience and reviews and favs and follows and everything, interwebs buddies!**


	23. Walk in the Park

The date was going well –_really _well. They enjoyed a nice meal on the patio at what was now their favourite restaurant and talked to each other without distraction. There wasn't a child or best friend around to drag them away from each other, or interrupt the conversation; they got to ask each other all the questions that had been on their mind and it was just _comfortable. _

Arizona thought as her hand, intertwined with Callie's, swung between them, it was comfortable just being with Callie. Not boring, or dull, or safe. Comfortable. Like everything was going to be okay; at Callie's side, the world would shift into place and disappear at the same time. It could fall away for all she cared, as long as her last moments were with the beautiful Latina currently nudging her.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Callie asked softly. She didn't want to think about Arizona shying away from a relationship that barely had time to even be a relationship, but who wouldn't worry; Arizona was great and she didn't want to lose her. It didn't really help ease her mind that Arizona had simply turned her head to look at her, blinking slowly and apparently still deep in thought.

Arizona couldn't help the smirk that spread across her face when she saw emotions flash across those deep brown eyes. Subtly dropping the tanned hand and wrapping her arm around Callie's waist the pull her over against her and gave her a soft squeeze.

"You wouldn't make a very good poker player, Calliope." She teased as Callie rolled her eyes. "What are _you _thinking about?"

All it took was a look from Callie in response to know what was up. It was scary how well they could read each other sometimes. She took a deep breath and weighed her options. There was no doubt she wanted to comfort Callie, but she didn't really want to have an overly serious conversation right now either, it was technically still their first date; it was supposed to be fun.

Spotting a nice big tree, she dragged Callie over, dropping down and pulling Callie to rest between her legs. With her arms securely around the slightly tense woman, she rested her chin just over her shoulder, their hair mixing together against Callie's tan skin. Deciding how she was going to deal with the conversation for now, she placed a kiss to the soft skin beneath her in case she wouldn't get the chance for a while after what she was about to do.

Callie felt those soft lips press against her skin and warm breath pass over her neck leaving goosebumps in its wake and couldn't stand it anymore "Can you…please, just say _something_?" She shyly asked, dreading what could come. Another heartbreak, more disappointment, an added reason to give up on love. It wouldn't even just be her this time; Ben absolutely loved Arizona, this would be heartbreaking for everyone.

Arizona knew she made the right decision now – she hoped. She nuzzled into Callie's neck and let a breath go. "I _was _thinking about running, you know."

She felt Callie stiffen and decided to hurry along, nodding her head gently "Running far, far, far away," she drawled each 'far' and she was sure Callie was going to kill her now "_Very _far. Like, super far."

"Okay! I get it! You want to run down the freaking hole to China! I just don't – "

Arizona couldn't help the grin plastered on her face – she was _so _a dead woman – she nibbled her way up that deliciously tanned neck, causing Callie to stop talking, and stopped at her ear and tightened her arms around Callie, lowering her voice "Just let me finish,"

"I _was _thinking about running." Rolling her eyes when Callie groans and decides she might as well go for gold now. "Not to China though. And certainly not through a hole. Maybe Australia? I heard it was pretty nice…lots of beaches…bikinis…" Shrugging nonchalantly and trying not to chuckle when Callie groans her name.

She gently turns Callie in her arms and she swallows and the defeated look on her face; those expressive eyes aren't showing her anything she wants to be the cause of Callie feeling and she plants a soft kiss on those beautiful lips that look like they might be beginning to quiver. "Calliope…"

She smiled widely, knowing she'd need her dimples in full force "I _was_ thinking of running away… when my parents come to visit. You know, leaving you and Ben to bond with them, or something. Whatever it is you emotional types do." If possible she smiled even wider at the look Callie shot her as she sniffled with a smile slowly working its way onto her face as she shook her head. Callie knew she was in for more when Arizona started to look a little more serious and met her eyes "I'd be back the same day though, if I even made it out of the house. I don't even know what I did before you and Ben came along but I know I'd be lost without you…" She swallowed the lump in her throat and darted her eyes away before looking back "You do have a lot to worry about…me being an idiot, the influence Mark and I will have on Benjamin, other people flirting with me, my past is…a big, scary…thing, that's just life though. But, Calliope, the one thing you do not have to worry about is me running away. I'm not going to run from this. I'm not going to run from _you_."

It wasn't entirely obvious whether Callie was laughing or crying, but the "moron." that was uttered as she snuggled back into Arizona was definitely clear. Arizona smiled and held her closer "Feel better?"

Callie nodded against her and then pulled back a little to swat Arizona's shoulder. Narrowing her eyes at the blonde who clearly knew she was in trouble, she shook her head in disbelief "You are so lucky that I'm a sucker for a good Arizona Robbins speech. Because before that you were in so much trouble."

Arizona grinned and wiggled her eyebrows "Oh really?"

Callie simply scoffed and swatted Arizona again, "You're incorrigible."

Seeing that it was getting darker, she stood and brushed the grass off her pants and held her hand out to help Arizona up and pulled her into her arms.

"I'm sorry for doubting you – and ruining our first date…"

Their foreheads rested together and Arizona gave Callie a quick kiss as her arms wrapped around the taller woman's waist.

"I'd doubt me too, but it's okay, I'll always be here to remind you that I'm not going anywhere. I don't think you ruined our first date."

At the disbelieving look on Callie's face, she smiled and rubbed their noses together "First dates aren't usually full of serious discussions, but we don't really do things the conventional way now, do we? I certainly wouldn't be promising any other first date that I'd be sticking around" She lightly teased.

Callie beamed and pulled her in tighter for a scorching kiss, mumbling "You better not." Against her lips.

That grin spread back across Arizona's face as they started walking and their hands naturally found their way back together to swing between them "Calliope Iphegenia Torres, was that _jealously_?"

Callie was halfway through a "shut up" when Arizona's phone rang out through the relatively peaceful night. Arizona's eyes widened when she realized it was Teddy's ringtone and quickly fished the phone out of her pocket and shot Callie an apologetic look, knowing that she couldn't ignore the call. If they were both out on dates that they had been looking forward to for a long time she wouldn't just call for no reason.

Callie's head shot up as Teddy's name was yelled and she noticed Arizona was now pacing and that made her worried. Arizona was usually the calmer of the two. Before she had a chance to ask what was up, Arizona had grabbed her hand and was quickly dragging her back to where they had parked by the restaurant.

The look she got when she asked Arizona where they were going concerned her more than an answer would have. She looked out to window to see surroundings that were becoming increasingly familiar; she knew these streets, she had taken them a million times in the early stages of her and Erica's relationship; they were going to the hospital.

"OH MY GOD! We're going to the hospital! Arizona! Why are we going to the hospital? Is Teddy hurt? Addie? Oh God, they had Ben with them!"

She was starting the break into Spanish so Arizona reached her hand across to rest on Callie's leg, trying to snap her out of it so they didn't end up getting in an accident or having a fully hysteric Callie on their hands.

They rushed through the doors of the hospital, Callie never calmed down enough for Arizona to explain and was still jittery looking around for signs that would lead her to where she needed to be. Mark and Lexie came rushing in just behind them just as Arizona spotted Teddy and made her way over with everyone else following her.

Now in a tiny little exam room, all squished together but no one daring to leave, Callie groaned and dropped her head.

There, sitting on the exam table and happily swinging his little legs was her little Benjamin now with an arm cast of his own and the two people that he seemed to spend the most time with as of late were offering him a high five, although both were noticeably looking better than they had in the lobby a few moments ago. She was sure she did too though, she knew she felt a lot better now that she knew everyone was relatively okay.

Callie and Lexie shared a look after taking in the three of them with their casts and sighed. What the hell were they really getting themselves into?

Soon enough the doctor came in and laughed.

"Robbins. Just couldn't stay away from me? It was the wit and sheer genius, wasn't it?"

There were few people that Cristina Yang will admit to liking, but from the day the dimpled blonde had managed to get Erica Hahn out of her life, Arizona Robbins was now on that very short list. She has basically Head of Cardio now.

"Wow, Cal. You must have picked a keeper. The Yang seal of approval hardly ever gets given out. If I didn't know any better, Yang, I'd almost think you were flirting with Arizona." She smirked as Yang shot her a look.

"Shut up, Satan. Anyone that makes it possible for me to not have to put up with McBitchface everyday gets the coveted seal of approval. I'm practically Head of Cardio now."

"This doesn't look Cardio." Addison retorted.

"I may be in trouble with the Chief for throwing a party to celebrate a certain witch's sudden departure." Yang mumbled before turning her attention back to Arizona and the little boy and offered a nod "You stay as long as you need to." And as fast as she had appeared, she was gone again.

* * *

**About time, am I right? I've resigned myself to the fact that this is basically just fluff. I have a few more ideas, but unless you guys want to see something in particular then this story will probably come to an end in about 6 more chapters. As always, thanks for all the reviews/messages/follows/favs and patience when it comes to updates ha.**


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